Wildcat Athletics Articles

Three teams competing in national events. What could be better? The softball team earned its first NCAA tournament win at regionals, the golf team finished 39th at the NCAA Division III Men's Championship, and Penn College's archers had two in the top 10 at the USA Archery Collegiate Target Nationals.

With a program-record 33-win season already in the books, Penn College’s all-sophomore and freshman softball team has already exceeded expectations. As it heads into NCAA Division III Regional play starting on Thursday, coach Amber Savage’s goal is simple: “Compete with joy, stay true to who we are, and continue playing our brand of softball."

A year ago, Penn College saw its five-year drought of All-American archers end when Casey Keiter became number 44. This season, coach Dustin Bartron expects what had previously become an annual tradition that produced 43 archers earning the coveted status 88 times to continue.

For the second year in a row, the softball team finished second in the United East Conference to Penn State Brandywine, and for the second year in a row, because Brandywine is still in its provisional timeline of transitioning to Division III and is ineligible to advance, the Wildcats will represent the conference in NCAA Regional play.

Among the best of the best. That’s where the United East Conference-championship Penn College men’s golf team will find itself over the next several days as five Wildcats tee it up with 220 others from the nearly 4,800 student-athletes who competed on more than 40 teams at the NCAA Division III level this season.

United East Conference runner-up finishes for the men’s lacrosse and women’s tennis teams, and a spot in this coming weekend’s UE Final Four for the third-seeded softball squad. What a fantastic spring season it is.

Regular and postseason playoff success have been a way of life for Penn College softball teams throughout this century. This season, under Amber Savage, in her collegiate coaching debut, the Wildcats haven’t skipped a beat despite fielding an all-sophomore-and-freshman lineup, going 29-5 overall and 14-2 in the United East Conference, where they are seeded third and host sixth-seed Penn State Abington in a best-of-three series starting at 3 p.m. on Friday at the Lumber Yards.

At 13-4 overall – and tying its most successful regular season in program history, a record set a year ago – the Penn College men’s lacrosse team finds itself in a familiar position as it heads into the United East Conference playoffs for the sixth consecutive season under coach Jordan Williams.

The golf team made it four in a row United East Conference Championship titles, men’s and women’s tennis advanced to the conference semifinals, and the lacrosse and softball teams went undefeated last week.

This season, Penn College tennis teams have had unprecedented success, and third-year coach David Straub is hopeful that it continues on Saturday as both of his squads enter the United East Conference playoffs seeded third.