PAC earns automatic playoff berth

For the first time in history, the Presidents’ Athletic Conference champion in football will receive an automatic NCAA Championship playoff berth.

What an incentive!

League officials have placed an AQ (automatic qualifier) status also on the circuit’s men’s and women’s soccer teams and volleyball team this season. Fans can now look for even more exciting seasons this coming fall.

Growth evident

Earning AQ status for CAA championship certainly marks another step in the growth and development of the PAC, which has seen its membership rise from six schools in 2004 to 10 this season.

Since adding Thomas More College as the seventh member of the PAC in 2005, the conference has mushroomed and conducted a two-year “waiting period,” during which seven active members had to be maintained to earn AQ status. The waiting period ended at the conclusion of the 2006-07 academic year.

No one could be happier with the NCAA’s announcement than PAC executive director Joe Onderko.

“While earning AQ status for most team sports in 2007-08 was not expected, it still represents a major milestone for our conference with regards to gaining national recognition and exposure for our teams,” said Onderko. “We are very pleased with the notification from the NCAA as having the automatic playoff bid will allow our coaches to recruit for student-athletes on even footing with other nearby conferences.

This will help to solidify the PAC’s status as one of the elite NCAA Division III conferences in the nation.”

It’s been awhile

The PAC has not had an automatic bid for the NCAA championships in any sport since 1996-97 when the conference received AQ status for men’s and women’s basketball only.

The 2007-08 conference AQ recipients for winter and spring sports will be released later this year by the NCAA. The PAC anticipates receiving automatic bids in men’s and women’s basketball, baseball, softball and men’s golf in 2008.

The PAC annually crowns champions in 19 sports (10 men and nine women). In 2006-07, the conference had 24 teams represent the conference in postseason play, including 14 in NCAA championship events.

Donato back in action

For 23 years, Sharon’s Mike Donato has been coaching football in the scholastic ranks. Now he will try his hand in the collegiate arena.

Donato, along with New Brighton’s Joe Greco, have been hired as assistant part-time coaches on the staff of Westminster College’s head football coach Jeff Hand.

Donato was a four-year starter at Thiel and a three-year first-team all-conference linebacker. He most recently served as head coach of the Kennedy Catholic Golden Eagles. He previously served as assistant coach at his alma mater, Sharon, for 19 years, including nine seasons as defensive coordinator. He led the Golden Eagles from 2003-06, where he led his team to the District 10 crown in 2005. He had coached on teams that won nine previous D-10 titles including two state title games at Sharon under Jim Wildman in 1994 and 1995.

Greco, an elementary and middle school teacher in New Brighton, served as head coach at New Brighton from 1995-2006. He had served on that coaching staff a total of 21 years. He was MAC Coach of the Year in 1995 and 2001.