UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State track & field/cross country program held its annual banquet Thursday evening at the Nittany Lion Inn. Penn State celebrated the 2018 track & field/cross country seasons by handing out awards and honoring the success of the program.
"It's always great to honor the accomplishments of the Penn State track & field/cross country program with our annual banquet," head coach John Gondak said. "From national championships to academic awards, we're looking forward to build off of the achievements from this past year as we embark on the 2019 track & field season."
As a program during the 2018 track & field season, the Nittany Lion men recorded a top-10 finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships – the highest finish of any Big Ten program both on the men's and women's side. The success continued for Penn State with the Nittany Lions becoming the only Big Ten program to have both the men and women finish in the top-25 at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Individually, Isaiah Harris (outdoor 800-meter run) and David Lucas (weight throw) reached the pinnacle of their respective events and won national titles. Overall at the NCAA Championships, Penn State recorded 10 First Team All-America finishes. At the Big Ten Championships, Michael Biddle (javelin), Harris (indoor and outdoor 800-meter run) and Danae Rivers (indoor 800-meter run and 1,500-meter run) captured gold medals.
This past fall on the cross country course, the Nittany Lion women ran to its fourth straight top-20 finish at the NCAA Championships. Individually, Penn State saw eight Nittany Lion All-Region honors and a pair of 10th-place finishes at the Big Ten Championships.
In the classroom during the track & field season, 47 Nittany Lions garnered Academic All-Big Ten honors and 20 Penn Staters were named All-Academic by the USTFCCCA. Earlier this week, 20 members of the cross country program were named to the Academic All-Big Ten team.
The full list of award winners can be found below.
| XC Lion Awards | |
| Cross Country MVP | |
| Colin Abert | |
| Julia Paternain | |
| Cross Country Most Inspirational | |
| Owen Wing | |
| Jordan Williams | |
| Moira O'Shea | |
| Cross Country Most Improved | |
| Danae Rivers | |
| Cross Country Freshman of the Year | |
| Alex Tomasko | |
| Julia Paternain | |
| Cross Country Captain Award | |
| Colin Abert | |
| Billy McDevitt | |
| Danae Rivers | |
| Kathryn Munks | |
| Elizabeth Chikotas | |
| Track & Field Lion Awards | |
| T&F MVP | |
| Isaiah Harris | |
| David Lucas | |
| Danae Rivers | |
| Maddie Holmberg | |
| T&F Ed Moran Memorial Freshman of the Year | |
| Will Henderson | |
| T&F Freshman of the Year | |
| Katie Jones | |
| T&F Most Improved | |
| Morgan Shigo | |
| Maddie Holmberg | |
| T&F Kevin Dare – Most Inspirational | |
| David Lucas | |
| Megan McCloskey | |
| T&F Coach Award | |
| Steph Sievers | |
| Jillian Hunsberger | |
| Hannah Mulhern | |
| Quenee Dale | |
| Colin Abert | |
| Michael Biddle | |
| Bryce Williams | |
| Dan Chisena | |
| T&F Nate Cartmell Captain Award | |
| Isaiah Harris | |
| Xavier Smith | |
| Bryce Williams | |
| Jon Yohman | |
| T&F Captain Award | |
| Maddie Holmberg | |
| Megan McCloskey | |
| Jillian Hunsberger | |
| Lexi Masterson | |