BUFFALO, NY – For the Penn State Behrend men's cross country team, winning never gets old.
On Saturday, the Lions clinched their third straight Allegheny Mountain College Conference (AMCC) championship with a dominating performance that featured seven runners finishing in the top-12.
Denis Lydon (Plum, PA/Plum) took home the individual championship with a time of 26:28. Lydon's victory comes on the heels of a second place finish in last season's title meet. Shortly thereafter, Jake DeWeese (Freedom, PA/Freedom Area) crossed the finish line with a time of 26:54. DeWeese's finish was good for fourth place.
Michael Smolinski (Wexford, PA/North Allegheny) and Josh Natalie (Erie, PA/Collegiate Academy) finished sixth and seventh, with times of 27:09 and 27:14, respectively. It was Smolinski's third career top-10 finish at the AMCC Championship.
Tyler Yost (Waterford, PA/Fort LeBoeuf) came in ninth place overall with a time of 27:23 and Devin Beggs (Franklin, PA/Franklin) finished 10th, coming in just one second behind Yost.
Christian Labash (Baldwin, PA/Baldwin) finished 12th with a time of 27:43.
This is the sixth time in the last seven years the Lions have won the AMCC crown. It is their seventh conference championship overall.
Along with Catie Bertges and the Behrend women's team, this is the first time in program history that coach Greg Cooper and the Lions have taken home both the men's and women's individual and team titles in the same season.
Behrend will get a week off before traveling to Bethlehem, PA to compete in the NCAA Regional on November 16.
