State College, Pa. - June 18, 2003 - Penn State softball player Marisa Hanson (Victoria, Texas) and men's golfer Jonas Hyden (Saltsjobaden, Sweden) have been named Penn State's recipients of the first annual Big Ten Sportsmanship Award. The duo was picked from among the winners of Penn State's 29 individual sports.

Hyden, a junior, lettered for head coach Greg Nye's crew this year and was a key performer in many of Penn State's spring tournaments this past season. His top performance was a 15th-place finish at Penn State's own Rutherford Intercollegiate. Highly compliant in the rules of golf and an outstanding individual, Hyden was also an active member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Board with a major focus on THON. Hyden was responsible for the men's golf team's THON stage performance.

The Nittany Lions' top pitcher, Hanson led the softball team with a career-best 1.50 earned run average. Despite suffering a broken jaw in the 6-5 loss to Michigan State on April 18, she went on to make eight more appearances in the circle and led the team with 13 wins. Hanson became only the second Nittany Lion to ever earn Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honors after helping Penn State to an 11-inning, 2-0 upset of No. 14 Florida State in Tallahassee, Fla. She was named to the Seminole Classic All-Tournament team and also to the Crimson Classic All-Tournament squad.

The Big Ten honors a male and female athlete from each member school with the award. Penn State's 2002-2003 Big Ten Sportsmanship Award Winners for each sport are as follows:

Baseball - Mike DeRenzo, Sr.; Men's Basketball - Ndu Egekeze, Jr.; Women's Basketball - Kelly Mazzante, Jr.; Men's Cross Country - Scott Munro, Jr.; Women's Cross Country - Katy Hillard, Jr.; Men's Fencing - Non Panchan, Jr.; Women's Fencing - Jessica Burke, Sr.; Field Hockey - Kate Bender, Sr.; Football - Damone Jones, Jr.; Men's Golf - Jonas Hyden, Jr.; Women's Golf - Keri Dugan, Sr.; Men's Gymnastics - Kevin Donohue, Sr.; Women's Gymnastics - Dana Cuomo, Sr.; Men's Lacrosse - Matt Zappia, Sr.; Women's Lacrosse - Kristin Wood, Sr.; Men's Soccer - Chad Severs, Soph,; Women's Soccer - Heidi Drummond, Jr.; Softball - Marisa Hanson, Jr.; Men's Swimming & Diving - Bob Tucker, Sr.; Women's Swimming & Diving - Sara Shepherd, Soph.; Men's Tennis - Clint Keithley, Soph.; Women's Tennis - Leigh Ann Merryman, Jr.; Men's Track and Field - Brian Derby, Sr.; Women's Track and Field - Lauren Clark, Jr.; Men's Volleyball - Zach Slenker, Sr.; Women's Volleyball - Erin Iceman, Sr.; Wrestling - Mark Becks, Sr.