ERIE, Pa. – The Penn State Behrend men and women's cross country teams announced their awards for the 2019 season as voted on by members of the team. Junior Savanna Carr (Franklin, PA/Franklin Area) was named the Most Valuable Player on the women's team while Phoenix Myers (Erie, PA/Seneca) was voted the men's MVP. Freshman Julia Fasiczka (North Huntingdon, PA/Norwin) and Aidan Domencic (Cranberry Township, PA/Seneca Valley) earned Rookie of the Year awards. Emily Ferrans (Wexford, PA/North Allegheny) won the Most Improved Runner on the women's team as well as Jake Lehotsky (Erie, PA/Fort LeBoeuf) on the men's side. Chris Drozynski (Stoneboro, PA/Lakeview) and Riley Crissman (Bradford, PA/Bradford Area) were named the Scholarship & Leadership award winners.
Carr was named the MVP in women's cross country. In her second season of cross country for the Lions, she won her second AMCC title, finished in the Top-10 of the MidEast Region for a second time, earned her second trip to the NCAA championships, and was the AMCC Runner of the Year. She is the first male or female to qualify for the NCAA Championships more than once in Behrend history. She also set the Behrend course record and AMCC Championships record for the 6K.
Myers claimed the men's MVP award. His first season with the Lions, he earned NCAA MidEast All-Region honors and USTFCCCA All-Academic All-American honors. He posted a 25:41.3 time for the 8K at the Regional Championship for one of the best times ever in Behrend history. Myers also earned All-AMCC honors.
Women's Rookie of the Year Fasiczka earned All-Conference honors after a seventh place finish at the AMCC Championship. She was also the first freshman finisher in the AMCC. Men's Rookie of the Year Domencic was a part of the top team finish in program history. He finished tenth in the MidEast Region. Domencic was named All-Conference with a tenth-place AMCC championship finish.
Ferrans earned the Most Improved award. She dropped 6:10 from her 6K from the beginning to the end of season. She moved up from 12th on the team to the Top-7 and earned All-Conference honors from the AMCC with a 14th place finish. Lehotsky was the men's team Most Improved. This season he ran five 8K races under 27:00 with all five bettering his previous PR. He earned sixth place at the AMCC championship for All-Conference honors and a strong GPA earned him All-Academic from the USTFCCCA.
Drozynski and Crissman won the Scholarship & Leadership awards. Both athletes helped lead the team by example. Drozynski was a four-time All-AMCC runner and two-time team AMCC Champion. Crissman helped lead her team to three AMCC titles. She was named All-AMCC four times as well as being the 2016 AMCC Runner of the Year. She earned USTFCCCA honors three times and was named to the All-Academic All-American team this season. Crissman also boasts one of the fastest 6K's in Behrend history with a 22:03.
