STATE COLLEGE, Pa., May 10, 2001- Four Nittany Lions were selected Verizon Academic all-District 2 Softball Team which was announced on Thursday. Led by senior outfielder Karen Gulini (Easton, Pa./Easton Area), a second team Academic All-America selection last season, she was voted first team all-district along with classmate Allison Medellin (San Pablo, Calif./DeAnza). Penn State University was one of three schools to place two student-athletes on the 2001 Verizon Academic All-America District 2 first team. Senior pitcher Kelly McCann (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin) and sophomore Megan Humphrey (San Diego, Calif./Mount Carmel) were named second team all-district. Gulini and Medellin are candidates for the Verizon Academic All-America softball team, selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). The team will be announced on Thursday, June 7.

A secondary education major with a 3.64 grade point average, Gulini was a second team academic all-American selection in 2000 when she batted .400, the second highest batting mark in school history. She is currently hitting .348, second on the Nittany Lion team. She was honored as Penn State's first all-American softball player last season when she helped the Penn State reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1985. A first team all-Big Ten Conference pick last season, she has been named academic all-Big Ten three times. She leads the team with 36 runs scored, 63 base hits and 26 stolen bases. Gulini is third on the Nittany Lions' career list with 196 hits and is second in runs scored (103) and stolen bases (96).

A four-year starter at second base for the Penn State, Medellin is a Mechanical Engineering major with a 3.64 G.P.A. Named first team all-Big Ten last year, she was also named to the District 2 all-academic team. The third on the team in hitting, she is batting .343 with 24 runs scored. With 197 career base hits, she is second on Penn State's all-time list. Named academic all-Big Ten twice, she was the toughest batter in the nation to strike out in 1999.

Also receiving honors are McCann and Humphrey with each earning second team honors for the first time in their careers. McCann broke the single-season Penn State mark for wins in 2001 and currently has 21. She also broke the school record for appearances (38) and has the third-most shutouts in a season with seven. Her 104 strikeouts is sixth most in Penn State history. The Public Relations and Advertising major carries a 3.52 grade point average. She ranks sixth in career victories with 34.

Humphrey just set the single-season mark for doubles in a season on Thursday at the Big Ten Tournament against Illinois, posting her 14th of the year. The kinesiology major with a 3.44 leads the team in batting and RBI. In just two seasons, she is fourth in career doubles at Penn State.

The Nittany Lions are 31-25 overall and will play in the third round of the Big Ten Tournament against Ohio State on Friday, May 11 in Ann Arbor, Mich. Game time is set for noon.