UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa., February 23, 2005 - Junior attackman Nate Whitaker (Great Falls, Va.) was selected to the 2005 Eastern College Athletic Conference preseason all-league first team in a vote by Eastern College Athletic Conference coaches recently.

Whitaker led the Nittany Lions in points (31), goals (18) and assists (13) last season and contributed with 19 ground balls. He earned first team ECAC All-League honors and received the "Friends of Penn State Lacrosse" Top Scorer Award for his 18 goals in 13 games. Whitaker was selected as ECAC Offensive Player of the Week for scoring three goals and three assists against Villanova and was named to the ECAC Weekly Honor Roll on three occasions last year for performances against Mt. Saint Mary's, Georgetown and Fairfield.

Last Saturday, No. 21 Penn State defeated No. 14 Ohio State in its season opener, 9-7, to improve to 1-0. Whitaker scored three goals to improve his scoring streak to 28 games. He has scored in every game he has played in as a Nittany Lion. Penn State will battle No. 10 Notre Dame on Sunday, Feb. 27, at 1 p.m. The Lions will then host Loyola in their ECAC opener on Saturday, March 5 at 1 p.m.