PSAC: An Overview

The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, with 56 years of organized competition, has established itself as one of the most respected NCAA Division II athletic conferences. 

In its history the PSAC has laid claim to 38 NCAA team champions and 210 individual title winners, giving credence to its fine athletic tradition.  The conference has prospered on the national level in recent years, as it annually has close to one-third of its teams participating in NCAA postseason competition.  The PSAC also distinguishes itself as the second largest Division II conference in terms of sports sponsorship, awarding titles for 22 different sports.

While proud of its athletic success, the league has also thrived in an academic sense.  The number of student-athletes designated by the conference as “Scholar-Athletes” - those who have attained a cumulative grade point average of 3.25 or better - has increased nearly every year since that standard was adopted in 1995-96.  The impressive number of yearly designees reached 1,420 in 2006-07.  Furthermore, the most recent figure is nearly double the total of those in the mid-1990s and is almost one-third of the total student-athletes today. 

The PSAC was organized in 1951 for the purpose of promoting and administering men’s athletic programs within the 14 state teachers colleges in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.  In 1977, due to the interest and growth of women’s athletics, the conference was restructured to provide for women’s programs.

From its inception, each conference member selected its own competitive division within the NCAA. In 1980, however, the presidents voted to reclassify the entire conference to Division II.  Although all 14 institutions are members of NCAA Division II, eight schools have also elected to compete at the Division I level in select sports.

In 1983, all member institutions were granted university status as a result of Legislative Act 188, which formed Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education.  The system now enrolls in excess of 109,000 students.  The alumni of the State System is over 600,000, which includes roughly 405,000 Pennsylvanians.

One of the largest conferences in the nation, the PSAC is governed by the presidents of the 14 member institutions.  It employs a commissioner, two assistant commissioners and a director of media relations at its headquarters in Lock Haven, Pa.

2006-07 NCAA Champions

Team: Bloomsburg, Division II Field Hockey

Individual: Division II Outdoor Track & Field - Nate Reider, Shippensburg (Javelin); Division I Wrestling - Gregor Gillespie, Edinboro (149 lbs.); Division II Wrestling - Joe Kemmerer, Kutztown (133 lbs.); Division II Swimming & Diving - Jamie Wolf, Clarion (1m, 3m diving); Division II Swimming & Diving - Kathrin Dumitru, West Chester (100 Breaststroke, 200 Breaststroke, 100 Butterfly, 200 Individual Medley); Katie Brosseau, West Chester (1650 freestyle)

2006-07 ESPN The Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-Americans

Football – Mike Butterworth, Slippery Rock; Derek Katris, California  Women’s Soccer - Julie Karcher, West Chester  Women’s Track & Field/Cross Country -  Amber Hackenberg, Bloomsburg; Erin Richard, Clarion  Women’s At-Large - Jaime Wolf, Clarion (Swimming & Diving); Ashley Yelinek, Bloomsburg (Swimming & Diving)  Women’s At-Large Academic All-America of the Year - Jamie Wolf, Clarion