Friday, March 20, 2009 Women's cross country receives All-Academic Team Award The women's cross country team not only succeeded in the 2008 season by placing third at the AMCC Championships, but they also succeeded as a team through their academics. The team's academic accomplishment was recog nized when they were selected as United States Track & Field Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Division 111 All-Academic "Finding out that our women's cross country team was given such a notable award was very exciting for all of us," said freshman run ner Jenna Fatica. "It is a great feeling knowing we had such a successful season both ath letically and academically. Hopefully we can continue to fulfill these accomplishments in the following seasons." According to head coach Greg Cooper, the academic award is given to teams who have an average cumulative grade point average of 3.10 and who ran as a team at the NCAA Regional Championships The Behrend Lions exceed ed the minimum grade point average needed to be consid ered for the USTFCCCA award with a GPA of 3.218 for the 2008 fall semester. The women's team has been consistent with being honored Junior guard Adam Kaiser and junior forward Adam Potter were named to the AMCC All-Conference team for their performances during the 2008-09 season. "I am very honored to be recognized on the AMCC All- Conference Team," said Potter. "The AMCC is a very talented conference, and there were a lot of other players who could have deserved it as well. I am also very thankful for my team and coaches, who, with out them, this would not be possible." Kaiser was named to the first team and Potter was named to the second team. This was the first time both players were honored with the Junior forward Adam Potter goes strong to the basket for a layup By Christine Newby sports editor cen5056( , 1 psu.edu with the award as they have received it four times out of the past five seasons. Thirteen athletes earned the award for this past season. "The team was excited to be honored again," said Cooper. "It is an award we've become used to receiving, however each year we have to earn it again. It's great to see our women be as successful in the classroom as they have been, and on top of that, they have been successful on the cross country course as well." One hundred and fifty-six Division 111 women's programs received the USTFCCCA's All- Academic Team honors this year, which set a record. Last season, 141 schools earned the academic award. Time management and not procrastinating are two main keys to balancing academics and athletics. "Being a student-athlete since high school, I know the importance of time manage ment and how to balance my studies with athletics," said Fatica. "It can be pretty stressful at times, but to avoid that as much as possible, I always try to finish my school work as soon as it is assigned. I do this because I know I do not have as much time as other students do to finish their work. Avoiding procrasti nation has definitely helped me out, which is the main key Potter and Kaiser named to AMCC All-Conference team By Christine Newby sports editor censos6 , a psu.edu award "When I found out [about the award], we were still in our season so I was more con cerned about the next game that we had," said Kaiser. "It was an honor to be named first team, but at that time our next game was the only thing on my mind." Kaiser was second, behind Potter, in total points with 350 and led the team in scoring with 13.5 points per game. The 3-point shot was Kaiser's strength this season, as he led the AMCC in 3-point field goals made with 80 while averaging 3.20 a game. Shooting 42 percent from 3- point range ranked Kaiser fourth in the AMCC. SPORTS to being a successful student athlete." Looking forward to the upcoming 2009 women's cross country season, both Cooper and Fatica are determined to claim the AMCC Championship title. "One goal we fell short of this year was winning the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference champi onship, and we would like to win that back," said Cooper. "Academically, it is our goal to continue earning this award, as it demonstrates that we are truly student-athletes. Regionally, it is our goal to improve on our place at the NCAA regional meet from a year ago." Fatica has team and individ ual goals for next season. "I am really looking forward to this upcoming cross coun try season," said Fatica. "Although we came short of winning the AMCC Championship this past sea son, we are all determined to reach our goal. My main per sonal goal is to definitely keep improving my times, but most importantly to have our team keep getting better as a whole. We do a great job of staying together in races, and if we can work on that a little more we will have a very promising season." Potter started every game this season for the Behrend Lions as he led the team in total points with 356 and was second to Kaiser with 13.2 points per game. He scored in the double-figures in 17 of the 27 games. Potter also led the team in rebounds with 158 and aver aged 5.9 rebounds per game. He shot 51 percent from the field and 68 percent from the foul line. "We grew a lot as a team this year and came a long way from the first week till now," said Potter. "While we never want to be satisfied with not winning the AMCC regular season and tournament, we did accomplish a lot consider ing our injuries, youth, and inexperience at different posi tions that will carry over to next season." The Behrend Lions finished with an overall record of 18- 10. The team made it to the AMCC Semifinal game where they lost to Pitt-Bradford by a score of 54-62. The Blue and White were then selected as a number four seed in the ECAC South Tournament. In the first round game, the Lions defeated Bethany 73-69. Their next task was the num ber one seed Cabrini in the ECAC Semifinals. The Lions ended their season with a loss against Cabrini by a score of 65-72. "I think that the season went well for the most part," said Kaiser. "We had a lot of young guys and they got to play in some big games, so the experience for them was good. I don't think that we reached our expectations for the sea son because we wanted to win the AMCC and play in the NCAA tournament which did not happen this year." The women's cross country team was selected for the USTFCCCA Division 111 All-Academic Team season and a commitment to each other will this be possi ble." The Behrend Beacon 7 DANIEL SMITH The Behrend Beacon Top: Potter is ready to play defense against an opponent. Bottom: Junior guard Adam Kaiser shoots the basketball.
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