Jon Larson, who has spent the last 10 years as the McCoy Natatorium Pool Coordinator and is the coach of the local club team Big Cat Aquatics, has been named an assistant swimming coach, it was announced today by Penn State head swimming coach Bill Dorenkott.

Larson will be taking his first collegiate coaching job since his undergraduate days. However, he brings a wealth of experience with him to the Nittany Lions. For the last 10 years, he has been the pool coordinator at McCoy Natatorium. Among his duties were supervising of the staff at McCoy, assisting in the scheduling of all events at the Natatorium, supervising all aquatic programs being held at McCoy, acting as the facility host for major competitions held at McCoy, and instructing exercise sport science classes as well as at Penn State sports camps.

As the head coach of Big Cat Aquatics, a role that he will continue to assume, he has worked with swimmers from elementary school age up through collegiate swimmers from the local area. Big Cat Aquatics, a USA Swimming club team that serves youth within a 50-mile radius of the Penn State campus, uses McCoy Natatorium for training and has provided a training environment for several current Penn State swimmers during their prep days. Among current Penn State swimmers that Larson has coached through his role with Big Cat are Molly Crispell, Kailey Morris, Jon Cochrane, Alan Erdley and Ben Ryan.

Prior to coming to the State College area, Larson served as head coach and program director of the Coronado Navy Swim Association in Coronado, Calif. from 1989-96. Before that, he was a student assistant coach at Alabama, where he completed his undergraduate degree in Sports and Fitness Management in 1989. He was a member of the swim team at Alabama for two years and also swam at Arizona State for two years prior to that.

Larson was the Middle Atlantic Swimming Coach of the Year in 2005 and the head coach of the Middle Atlantic All-Star team from 1999-2000. He was also named Coach of the Year by the San Diego Swimming Coaches Association in 1992 and served as president of the San Diego Swimming Coaches' Association from 1992-93.

"Jon and I came to Penn State about the same time," said Dorenkott. "Both of us have shared an office suite over the years and complemented each other's roles within Penn State Athletics. Jon's coaching pedigree reads like a who's who of American Swimming. Jon is going to be an excellent collegiate coach and brings our staff and student-athletes a wealth of experience."

The Penn State swimming program named its second new assistant coach in as many weeks on Wednesday as head coach Bill Dorenkott announced the hiring of Jake Shellenberger as an assistant coach. Shellenberger takes over for former assistant coach John Hargis, who last month accepted a position as head coach of the Arkansas Dolphins, a USA Swimming club team located in Little Rock, Ark.

Shellenberger was most recently the head women's swimming coach at Millersville University. He has also held an assistant coaching position with the Trident Swim Club in Lancaster, Pa. and also served as an assistant swimming coach at Chambersburg Area Senior High School. With the Trident Swim Club, he assisted the club's head coach in all areas of developing senior level athletes, which included Olympic Trials Qualifiers, Division I recruits, and PIAA District and State Champions. He was also responsible for developing strength training programs for Trident's senior training group.

In addition to his roles as an assistant coach with both Trident and at Chambersburg, he has served as the head swimming coach with the Mount Joy Swim Team in Mount Joy, Pa. since 2002. Mount Joy is a summer swim team that swims in the Lancaster County Summer Swim League, which is made up of 24 teams from throughout Lancaster County. With Mount Joy, he managed all areas of the team function for around 90 swimmers ranging from ages 5-18.

A four-year member of the swimming team at Shippensburg University, Shellenberger was the team's co-captain in 2004-05 and also served as the vice-president of the student-athlete advisory committee during his senior season. He graduated with a degree in history in December of 2005, serving as a team manager for the 2005-06 season at Shippensburg after completing his eligibility. A member of the Dean's List and a former Academic All-American, he is also a certified strength and conditioning specialist and a member of the National Strength and Conditioning Association.

"Obviously, we are going to miss John Hargis and all that he brought to our program the past few years," said Dorenkott. "Our sprinters had an excellent summer of improvement and John has left that area of our program in solid shape. I have known John since he was 14 years old and he continues to be one of the most loyal and humble individuals that I have had the good fortune of being around. I think it is a strong testament to his loyalty that he has returned to assist Coach Blair down in Little Rock.

"That being said, however, Jake Shellenberger brings enthusiasm and passion to our staff," Dorenkott continued. "He has a thirst for knowledge that will translate into performance for our program. I believe that Jake's future in the sport is unbelievably bright and I am pleased that he is joining Penn State Swimming and Diving."

Shellenberger is the second new assistant coach to start at Penn State in the last two weeks, after Jon Larson was added to the staff last week. The Penn State swimming program will have three new assistant coaches this year as Shellenberger and Larson join former Nittany Lion All-American swimmer Dee Dlugonski, who was added to the staff in June, as assistant coaches entering their first year at Penn State.

The Nittany Lion swimming and diving program will conduct its annual intra-squad meet next Friday, October 13 at 3:30 p.m. at McCoy Natatorium before beginning the regular season the following Thursday, October 19 at West Virginia.