2018-19 Honors
AMCC Coaches of the Year
Dan Perritano – men’s soccer
Phil Pisano – men’s volleyball
Jen Wallace – men’s swimming and diving
Ashley Gruber – softball
AMCC Players of the Year
Brenna McGuire – women’s soccer (offensive)
Chris Ralph – men’s soccer (defensive)
Lexi Irwin – women’s volleyball
Dillon Hildebrand – men’s volleyball
Mark Patterson – men’s swimming and diving
Jessica Wyckoff – women’s swimming and diving
AJ Nichols – softball (pitcher)
AMCC Rookies of the Year
Brenna McGuire – women’s soccer
Kristin Reiland – women’s volleyball
Zachary Tingley – men’s cross country
Chase Bietz – men’s swimming and diving
Marcella Puglia – women’s swimming and diving
Highlights from the 2018-19 season
Men’s soccer advanced to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen for the first time in program history. The Lions also finished the year with their highest ranking in the final National Coaches Poll in the sixteenth spot. Senior goalkeeper Chris Ralph was named a Scholar All-American, as well as the AMCC and ECAC Defensive Player of the Year.
Sophomore Jake Paulson was the first wrestler to represent the Lions on the national stage since the sport was renewed at Behrend just two years ago. He won five matches in a row at the NCAA Southeast Regional to place third overall!
A three-hour delay due to a power outage did not stop the men’s basketball team from claiming the AMCC Championship in dramatic fashion, edging out their competition with a 67-65 victory. Senior Justin Gorny scored the final six points of the game and the Behrend defense forced a missed shot at the buzzer by La Roche University to claim its first title since 2013-14.
Track and field sophmore Braeden Smith was the All-Atlantic and CSAC indoor track and field high-jump champion, qualifying for the NCAA Championship meet. He placed eighth overall to earn All-America honors. Smith repeated as the high-jump champion at the All-Atlantic and CSAC outdoor track and field meets to make his second trip to nationals this season where he placed thirteenth.
President's Cup remains at Behrend
For the fifteenth consecutive year, Penn State Behrend won the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference (AMCC) President's Cup. The award honors the most outstanding overall athletics program in the conference. The Lions captured five conference championships— men’s and women’s soccer, men’s and women’s swimming and diving, and men’s basketball—and finished as runners-up in women’s volleyball and men’s and women’s cross country.