June 4, 2015
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - Incoming Nittany Lion softball freshman Toni Polk was named Gatorade State Softball Player of the Year in New York on Thursday following a stellar senior season.
Polk signed a national letter of intent to join the Penn State program in December as part of a six-member class ranked 17th in the nation by Full Count Softball. Playing shortstop at Niagara Falls (N.Y.) High School, Polk earned the honor handed out to a scholastic athlete who demonstrated high academic development and exemplary personal character, including volunteerism, sportsmanship and community leadership.
Polk led the Wolverines to a 12-3 record and the sectional tournament this spring. She produced a .532 batting average with 12 RBIs and scored 16 runs. A two-time all-state honoree and a two-time Niagara Frontier Player of the Year, Polk is rated as the nation's No. 28 player in the current recruiting class by Full Count Softball.
"Toni Polk is probably one of the best athletes I have seen in a long time," head coach Amanda Lehotak said. "She just has natural ability with the way she walks, the way she runs and we are just really excited to have her. We think that she'll be the most athletic player that we have both coming in and currently on the team. I know she really wants to fight for an infield position and she is so fast, athletic and strong that it will be fun to see where she ends up on the field."
A three-sport star at Niagara, Polk has also garnered accolades and attention during her time on the court as a volleyball and basketball player. The three-sport standout was the first student-athlete in her school's history to be named all-league in a trio of athletic arenas.
Aside from her athletic accolades, Polk is an accomplished student, maintaining a 4.0 GPA, which garnered her Scholar Athlete honors from her hometown TV station - WIVB.
Polk is part of a standout recruiting class that is rated as the second-highest in the Big Ten. In addition to Polk, the Nittany Lion softball program welcomes Tori Dubois (Nashua, N.H.), Lexi Lotito (Canyon Country, Calif.), Maddie Seifert (Chesterfield, Mo.), Maddie Shaffer (New Castle, Pa.) and Meghan Williams (Bethlehem, Pa.) in 2016.
Penn State capped off a 2015 season marked by great progress in Lehotak's second season as head coach of the Nittany Lions. The Lions finished 29-28 overall with a 9-14 mark in Big Ten play, marking the program's highest win total since 2011.