Penn State Altoona cross country coach Joey Zins

Penn State Altoona Athletics announced on Thursday the hiring of Joey Zins to be the head coach of its recently reinstated men’s and women’s cross country program.

Zins brings a wealth of high-level coaching experience, including stints at Division I Florida State University and, most recently, Division II Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He becomes the fourth head coach all-time for Penn State Altoona’s cross country program, and he will also lead the department’s track & field program, which is still in the developmental stages.

His coaching experience began in 2004 with Florida State’s cross country and track & field teams. He served as a volunteer coach for one year before taking a graduate assistant coach position with the Seminoles, which he held from 2006-08.

Wrestler honored

UNIVERSITY PARK — Penn State Nittany Lion wrestler Carter Starocci was named the 2025 Big Ten Jesse Owens Male Athlete of the Year.

Starocci was honored from a field that featured each of the 18 Big Ten members’ Male Athletes of the Year. USC’s JuJu Watkins was named Big Ten Female Athlete of the Year.

The Erie native is the fourth Penn State male athlete to claim the Big Ten Athlete of the Year honor, three of whom have been wrestlers. Luis Vargas, men’s gymnastics, was the first to win the honor in 2005. Wrestler David Taylor won in 2014, and wrestler Bo Nickal won in 2019.

Starocci capped off an historic collegiate career, becoming the first and only wrestler in NCAA Division I history to become a five-time NCAA National Champion.

He ended his career with a 104-4 career record with 20 falls, 25 techs and 21 majors, meaning 86 of his 104 wins were for bonus.