Kristina Petersen has been named Assistant Director of Athletic Communications at Penn State, Jeff Nelson, Assistant Athletic Director for Communications, announced. Petersen's appointment is effective August 28.
A native of Rochester, N.Y., Petersen is joining the Nittany Lions' athletic staff after serving as Director of Media Relations at the Mid-Continent Conference the past two years.
Petersen will serve as the primary athletic communications contact with the women's basketball team and work with other programs, including the men's and women's tennis teams. She also will be a member of the football gameday operations staff.
At the Mid-Continent Conference, Petersen was responsible for overseeing the media relations efforts for 19 sports. Her duties included serving as the Media Coordinator of the Mid-Continent Conference Men's and Women's Basketball Championships, maintaining the conference's website, writing and designing various publications and serving as the primary conference administrator at selected Mid-Con Championships.
Petersen previously spent three-plus years at the Patriot League, being promoted to Director of Media Relations in July 2004. She was the primary contact for 15 sports, including women's basketball, while serving as Assistant Media Relations Director from 2001-04.
During the 2000-01 academic year, Petersen was a Communications Assistant at the Big East Conference.
Petersen was a four-year letterwinner on the softball team at Mansfield (Pa.) University. She earned Dean's List recognition four semesters, was a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Scholar-Athlete three times and an NFCA All-America Scholar-Athlete twice. Petersen also served as treasurer for Lambda Pi Eta, the communications honor fraternity.
She earned her degree in Broadcasting and Public Relations from Mansfield in 2000, serving as a student assistant in the sports information office her senior year.