UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State women's lacrosse team welcomed a new signee to the program on Wednesday. Team IMPACT child Abby Marinaro joined the team in a "Draft Day" ceremony.
Team IMPACT is an organization that connects children with serious or chronic illnesses with college teams to give the children a supportive, team environment. Marinaro is a 10-year-old from Lititz, Pa with cystic fibrosis.
In a ceremony held in the Beaver Stadium media room, with the entire Nittany Lion team in attendance, Marinaro signed a "letter of intent" and was presented with a jersey by Head Coach Missy Doherty. Joining Marinaro and Doherty on the podium were senior Madison Carter and sophomore Taylor Suplee.
"We're pumped to celebrate our new teammate, Abby. In 10 years at Penn State, this is my most exciting signee," said Doherty. "Hearing Abby talk to our team, it's an amazing spirit she has. We couldn't be happier to have the Marinaro family as part of ours. We see their excitement about our team and about Penn State."
Marinaro was connected with the women's lacrosse team and attended the win over Cornell last Sunday, joining the team on the sideline.
"Abby is just awesome," said senior Madison Carter. "We are so excited to have her as part of our team. She's such an inspiration to us all. On Sunday, we had a great day. She was bringing the energy, running up and down the sideline after every goal."
The Nittany Lions are 4-0 this season and ranked No. 19 in the IWLCA Coaches Poll. Penn State will battle No. 5 Loyola (MD) on Saturday at 1 p.m. in Panzer Stadium.
