CARLISLE, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend men's cross country team placed 17th out of 47 teams at the NCAA Regionals hosted by Dickinson on Saturday. The Lions finished with a team score of 435. Both Jacob Parsons (Titusville, PA/Maplewood) and Dylan Buffington (Brookville, PA/Brookville) were selected to the Mideast Region All-Freshman Team for Top Seven finishes among freshman.
Parsons led the way for Behrend placing 67th running his career best 8k time of 26:36.1. Parsons has had a phenomenal freshman campaign including a second place finish at the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Championships (AMCC) and an ECAC Rookie of the Week honor.
Buffington finished just after Parsons and took 71st place. Also a freshman, Buffington ran a 26:40.9. Devin Beggs (Franklin, PA/Franklin) followed Buffington with a 72nd place finish. The conference champion finished right on the heels of Buffington running a time of 26:41.
Coming in at 110th place was freshman Alan Yocca (Plum, PA/Plum). In Yocca's first NCAA action he delivered his strongest 8k performance of the season running a 27:14.5. Just five places behind Yocca, Josh Natalie (Erie, PA/Collegiate Academy-Strong Vincent) ran his season-best time of 27:18.4. Natalie finished in 115th place.
Finishing 6th for the Behrend sqaud, Jake DeWeese (Freedom, PA/Freedom Area) ran a 27:22.3. The time was good for 120th place overall. Taking 162nd place for the Lions, Ian Griffith (Murrysville, PA/Franklin Regional) finished with a time of 28:06.8.
The Lions wrap up another successful season that saw the program win its fourth straight AMCC Championship and eighth overall.
