Former Penn receiver headed to NFL Europe
Penn's all-time receptions leader, Rob Milanese, will bring his game across the Atlantic Ocean this spring as a member of NFL Europe's Rhein Fire.
After graduating last year, the former Quakers standout had a brief stint with the New England Patriots in training camp, eventually landing a job with the New York Jets at the end of the regular season.
Three other former Ivy Leaguers will be joining Milanese in Europe. Former Harvard receiver Carl Morris, who spent the past year on the Miami Dolphins training squad, will play for the Cologne Centurions. After winning Super Bowl rings as members of the Patriots' practice squad this season, Brown receiver Chas Gessner and Harvard lineman Jamil Soriano will be teammates on the Berlin Thunder.
Players must report to training camp on Feb. 27, while the season begins April 3.
-- David Burrick
Ivies hire new chief for football officiating
The current coordinator of football officials for the Atlantic 10, Jim Maconaghy, has been hired by both the Ivy League and Patriot League. While Maconaghy will not leave his post with the A-10, he will have added responsibilities, as he becomes the coordinator of football officiating for two new leagues starting with the 2004 season.
The Plymouth, Pa., native was a referee in all three leagues, in addition to the Yankee Conference and Big East, for 15 seasons, retiring in 2000.
Maconaghy has also served as the Game Day Coach/Quarterback Coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles since 1994. He was named "Collegiate Official of the Year" in 1996 by the National Football Foundation and was inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 2000.
-- D.B.
Mitchell, Lhotak 2003 Penn football MVPs
At the Penn football team's annual postseason banquet, senior quarterback Mike Mitchell and senior linebacker Steve Lhotak each received the George A. Munger Award, as the Quakers' offensive and defensive most valuable players.
Junior wide receiver Dan Castles and junior linebacker Ric San Doval won the Edgar Church Memorial Award, voted by letterwinners as the players who contributed the most to the team this season.
The Penn Football Club Award went to senior fullback Michael Kapusta for offense, senior defensive back Rudy Brown for defense, senior kicker Peter Veldman for special teams, sophomore receiver Kevin Barr for offensive rookie and sophomore defensive back Casey Edgar for defensive rookie.
The Charles Bednarik Award for the team's best offensive and defensive linemen went to senior guard Chris Clark and senior defensive lineman Ryan Strahlendorff.
The team's most improved players were junior linebacker Luke Hadden on defense and sophomore receiver Sagar Patel on offense.
Sophomore transfer running back Sam Mathews took home the George A. Weiss Award, for best playing "Pennsylvania kind of football."
-- D.B.
Clark earns Ivy Player of the Week honors
On the week that she became just the third Penn women's basketball player to tally 1,500 career points, senior forward Jewel Clark was named Ivy League Player of the Week.
Though the Waldorf, Md., native was held to single digits for just the third time this year against Harvard on Feb. 6, she came back the next night against Dartmouth, scoring 23 points and grabbing 13 rebounds.
Clark's Quakers are currently in first place in the Ivy League.
-- D.B.
Track teams return from trips to Delaware, PSU
Though not a scheduled meet, the University of Delaware, Thomson Invitational proved a success for the Penn men's track team.
Freshman Ian Foley won the 5000 meter with a time of 15:11.87. Freshman Eric Pauley also took home first-place honors, winning the 3000 meter in 8:49.30.
The women's track team fell to both Princeton and Penn State in State College, Pa.
Among the team's best finishers were junior sprinter Izu Emeagwali, who finished second in the 60-meter dash, the 4x400 meter relay team (Michelle Hart, Susan Eisenberg, Emeagwali and Rachel Daily) and junior Sam Crooks, the runner-up in the pole vault.
-- D.B.
