Led by the 2007 Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Championship men's golf team, Penn State Altoona finished second in the final AMCC Presidents Cup Standings with 75 points, the school's best ranking and highest point output since joining the league in 1998.  The Cup is awarded annually to the AMCC member institution with the most successful overall athletic program in conference play.  Penn State Behrend, which boasted five regular season league championship teams, captured its seventh Presidents Cup in eight years by totaling 99.5 points.  Frostburg State checked in at third with 73 points while Lake Erie (68) and Medaille (65) rounded out the top five.  The men's golf team earned the Altoona Lions 10 Presidents Cup points based on its first place finish at the 10-team conference championships.  The women's cross country team, which finished runner-up at the AMCC championships, recorded nine Cup points while men's and women's soccer and women's volleyball tallied eight points apiece for their respective third place regular season finishes.  To view the final 2008 AMCC Presidents Cup Standings and point breakdowns, CLICK HERE.

Penn State Altoona men's and women's swimming and diving coach Nanette Cummings will attend the 2008 NCAA Women's Coaches Academy from June 7-11 in Atlanta, Georgia.  Cummings was one of three coaches from the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference selected to attend, joining Frostburg State basketball coach Jody Pepple and Penn State Behrend softball coach Stacy Pondo.  According to its website, the NCAA Women's Coaches Academy has three primary objectives:  1) Provide professional development in areas other than X's and O's.  2) Inspire and motivate women coaches to remain in the profession.  3) Provide a framework for interaction between women in all aspects of athletics.  The academy is open to any coach in any sport in any NCAA division, however, space is limited to only 25 coaches per session.  The idea for a Women's Coaches Academy was hatched in 2002 after the NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics (CWA) supported an initiative to train, support and retain women coaches.  Cummings just completed her sixth season as head swimming and diving coach at Penn State Altoona.

Thanks to strong finishes from both the men and women at this year's AMCC Championships, nine individuals and seven teams from Penn State Altoona were named AMCC all-conference selections Thursday.  For the men, a second place team finished created a number of all-conference honorees.  The first-team winners included Matt Dietrich (Manheim, PA/ Manheim Central) for the 400IM and Dan Bodde (Shippensburg, PA/ Shippensburg) for the 100 Free.  Teams that qualified for first team were the 200 Medley Relay team of Dietrich, Jon Bednar (Northhampton, PA/ Northhampton), Brian Dau (Princeton, NJ/ Notre Dame), and Chris Hickey (West Chester, PA/ West Chester East).  Individuals on the second team all-AMCC roster for the Lions were Bednar (100 Breast) and Dau (200 fly).  There were four teams that earned second team distinction including the 200 Free Relay team of Dietrich, Dau, Bodde, and Hickey, the 400 Medley Relay team of Bednar, Dietrich, Dau, and Bodde, the 800 Free Relay team of Bednar, Bodde, Hickey, and Dan Palermo (Garnet Valley, PA/ Garnet Valley), and the 400 Free Relay team of Dau, Bodde, Hickey, and Palermo.  On the women's side, the women also finished runner-up in the team AMCC standings.  Sophomore standout Brittany Yingling (Hollidaysburg, PA/ Hollidaysburg High School) took home three individual all-conference awards, including two first teams in the 200IM and 100 Back and a second team honor in the 200 Back.  Her teammates also racked up some individual honors as first-teamer Megan Warner (Hollidaysburg, PA/ Hollidaysburg) won the 200 Breast and second-teamers Kristen Estoscin (Saltsburg, PA/ Kiski Area) (100 Fly), Brittany Bauer (Doylestown, PA/ Central Bucks South) (200 Breast), and Vita McHale (Emmaus, PA/ Emmaus) (1M diving) were victorious in their events.  The women also had two teams named to the second team all-conference, the 200 Free Relay team of Lauren Brenner (Hollidaysburg, PA/ Hollidaysburg), Bauer, Yingling, and Emily McAleer (Altoona, PA/ Altoona) and the 200 Medley Relay team of Brenner, Bauer, Warner, and McAleer.  The sixteen combined all-conference awards matches the number the Lion men and women took home last year.  For the complete men's all-conference list CLICK HERE, and for the women's list CLICK HERE.