SECAUCUS, N.J. - SUNY College at Old Westbury junior right-handed pitcher Robert Whitenack (North Massapequa, N.Y./Plainedge) was chosen by the Chicago Cubs in the eighth round of the Major League Baseball Draft.  Whitenack was the 260th selection overall, becoming the first-ever Panther to be drafted by a Major League team and was the first Division III player taken in the 2009 draft.

Whitenack appeared in 35 games the past three seasons, making 24 starts including six complete games and three shutouts. On April 28, 2008 against Polytechnic Institute of NYU, he tossed a 14-strikeout no-hitter in Old Westbury’s 11-0 victory.

This season he posted a 2.81 ERA in leading the Panthers to a program best 27-13 record. In 67.1 innings he posted a career-high 5-2 record, registering 79 strikeouts and holding the opposition to a .190 batting average. For his career, Whitenack went 12-10 on the hill with a 3.03 ERA and 189 strikeouts in 183.1 innings of work.

Whitenack finished his collegiate career as Old Westbury’s single-season strikeout leader (79) and earned back-to-back Skyline Conference Pitcher of the Year awards in 2008 and 2009. He was also named the 2009 ECAC Pitcher of the Year and earned a spot on the ECAC All-Star Team. He was named the top prospect of the Hawaii Collegiate Baseball League last summer after posting 40 strikeouts, just two short of the league leader. Whitenack, pitching for the Waikiki Surfers, appeared in 12 games and sported a 2.15 ERA over 37.2 innings and was a league All Star.

In the 34-year history of the draft, 25 Division III players have been selected in the first three rounds, the last being Jordan Zimmerman of The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in 2007, who was chosen in the second round with the 67th overall pick by the Washington Nationals. In 2007, 19 Division III players were selected followed by 20 players drafted in 2008.