Sports
Setting the Pace
Since the inception of the Penn State Altoona cross-country program in 2002, the women's team has hovered near the top of the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference with three consecutive top-three finishes. But in 2005 the conference title no longer alluded them, as the Lady Lions won their first AMCC Championship, dethroning perennial powerhouses Frostburg State University and Penn State Behrend in the process. Putting an exclamation mark on the team victory, four Lady Lions earned All-Conference honors, including freshman Meagan Crossett, who captured the individual championship.
"Winning the individual race was great. But winning the team title was the best feeling ever."
~ Meagan Crossett
The Lady Lions secured their first team title by an unexpected twenty-four point margin. "Coming into the championship, we knew we would contend for the win. But we were expecting a very tight race with Penn State Behrend and figured it to be a couple point meet one way or the other," states Coach Doug Hoover. "Our twenty-four point victory was certainly more comfortable than we anticipated. It was just an awesome race for the ladies against a tough Behrend squad and a surprising Frostburg squad, as well as the other seven teams."
With the team win, the Lady Lions become just the third school in conference history to win a conference title, as Frostburg and Penn State Behrend had won every one of the previous eight conference championships.
The race for the individual title was not determined until the final quarter mile, when Crossett surged past Behrend's Jenny Bailey. With her individual win, Crossett is the first runner to win a conference title who was not from either Behrend or Frostburg. Crossett was named AMCC Runner of the Year by the conference coaches for her performances throughout the season and at the conference championship.
"This is a very special group of women," notes Hoover. "They have faced every challenge in front of them with courage and a belief in themselves, each other, and their training. They've established a high standard for our program."