ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend men's and women's cross country teams are competing for the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) championship this Sunday on the campus of Pitt-Johnstown. The men have won the past five AMCC titles while the women are looking to be crowned for the fourth time in the last five years.
The women will begin the championship race at 11 a.m. followed by the men at 12 p.m.
The men have taken first place in all but one race. They started the season strong, finishing first in a field of six at the Fisher Invitational hosted by Westminster. Two weeks later, the Lions had five runners finish in the top 25 to help them capture a first-place finish at their home meet. On October 8th they finished first out of seven in the Houghton Invitational. In their most recent meet hosted by Rowan, Behrend finished 30th. They competed against 42 teams at the Inter-Regional Boarder Clash, 10 of which are nationally ranked.
Dylan Buffington (Brookville, PA/Brookville), Jacob Parsons (Titusville, PA/Maplewood) and Ian Griffith (Murrysville, PA/Franklin Regional) have been consistent so far, finishing in the top three for the Lions in each race. Buffington was the overall champ in the first three races of the year and finished 30th overall at the Inter-Regional Boarder Clash where he ran the fastest race in Behrend history (24:22.3).
Parsons led the Lions to their fifth straight AMCC Championship last year with a time of 27:08.3 earning him second place overall. Behrend had seven runners finish in the top 15.
The women have also won three of the four races they have competed in this year. They won the Fisher Invitational, Behrend Invitational and the Houghton Invitational. At the Inter-Regional Boarder Clash, the women competed against 14 nationally-ranked teams and a field of 45, finishing 33rd overall.
Freshman Riley Crissman (Bradford, PA/Bradford) has finished first for the Lions in three of their races and was the individual winner of the Behrend Invitational as well as the Houghton Invitational. Senior Rachel Ramsey (North Versailles, PA/East Allegheny) and freshman Caitlin Plazony (Fairview, PA/Fairview) have rounded out the top three in each race this season. Ramsey, who led the Lions in their AMCC Championship race last year, finished first overall in the Fisher Invitational.
