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.