Altoona's Ingold honored with ECAC Distinguished Achievement Award

ALTOONA, Pa. -- Retired Penn State Altoona Director of Athletics Fredina M. Ingold has been selected as one of three recipients of the 2015 James Lynah Distinguished Achievement Award by the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC).The James Lynah Distinguished Achievement Award is bestowed annually to former ECAC athletics administrators who have achieved outstanding success in their careers and have made an unusual contribution in the interests of intercollegiate athletics, the NCAA, and the ECAC. Eligible candidates must have been an ECAC director, associate director, assistant director of athletics, or senior woman administrator.During her 37-year tenure with Penn State Altoona, Ingold successfully revived an athletics program that was dormant from 1991-1993. She went on to lead the Lions from junior college status to full NCAA Division III membership, helping the school gain admission into the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference and the ECAC.Ingold oversaw multiple improvements to the Lions’ athletic facilities, but her commitment to the University and intercollegiate athletics extended past her official responsibilities as director of athletics. In 2004, Ingold created the Fredina M. Ingold Intercollegiate Athletics Enhancement Endowment, which provides discretionary funds that are crucial to the advancement of intercollegiate athletics.Ingold’s service to collegiate athletics stretched beyond Altoona, as she served on a multitude of NCAA and ECAC committees throughout her career, including a term as the chair of the ECAC board of directors. As a result of her dedication to Penn State Altoona and collegiate athletics, Ingold has received multiple awards in recent years. In 2013, she was named the ECAC Jostens Female Administrator of the Year. She also earned the 2009 Under Armour Athletic Director of the Year Award for the Division III Central Region, awarded annually by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics.Ingold, along with former George Mason University Director of Athletics Tom O'Connor and former Suffolk University Director of Athletics Jim Nelson, will be presented with the award at the ECAC's annual honors luncheon on Sept. 28.