LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) held its annual PSAC Football Media Day today at the newly constructed Durrwachter Alumni Conference Center on the campus of Lock Haven University.

2008 will be a memorable season for PSAC football, as the conference welcomes three new teams to conference play.

Gannon and Mercyhurst Universities have joined the PSAC full board, while C.W. Post has joined as an associate member for football and field hockey.

As part of media day the 2008 preseason polls were announced.

The Bald Eagles were picked to finish eighth in the PSAC Western Division, while California University (Pa.) was picked to finish atop the West.

West Chester University was picked to finish first in the PSAC Eastern Division.

LHU head football coach John Klacik, a 1988 graduate of Lock Haven was on hand today and was optimistic for the upcoming season, which is right around the corner.

His team reports to preseason training camp on Wednesday, Aug. 6 and the Bald Eagles first game is less than a month away.

"I'm very excited to see the work the athletes put in over the summer" said Klacik, who is anxiously waiting the season, his fourth at the helm of the Bald Eagles. “We are also we are opening up at home on our new field, which should motivate the team even more to open up the season on a positive note."



"I have seven seniors returning and they are the first group that has been with me all four seasons, and the juniors that are with us are the first core of players we recruited. Both groups are filled with great athletes and leaders, so if they come into camp with the right attitude this team could do some great things this season."

The Bald Eagles open at home on Thursday night, Aug. 28 at 7:30 p.m. when they play host to Glenville State University.

The polls are as follows.

West Division:

(first place votes in parenthesis)

1. California (6)

2. Indiana (2)

3. Edinboro

4. Slippery Rock

5. Mercyhurst

6. Clarion

7. Gannon

8. Lock Haven

East Division:

(first place votes in parenthesis)

1. West Chester (5)

2. Bloomsburg (2)

3. East Stroudsburg (1)

4. Shippensburg

5. C.W. Post

6. Kutztown

7. Millersville

8. Cheyney

2008 marks the 75th year since the first football champion was recognized. In 1934 a group of statewide media crowned Indiana (Pa.) the champion among Pennsylvania’s State Teachers Colleges. This practice continued until the conference officially formed in 1951.

At the conclusion of the regular season this year, the PSAC will re-introduce a football championship game (November 15), played between its Eastern and Western Divisional winners. The concept of a “State Game” took place each year from 1960 through 1987 to crown the league’s annual champion.