Crane Named to Academic All-District First Team
Moves on to National Ballot for Academic All-America Consideration

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. --- Recently graduated Lycoming wrestler Derek Crane (Elizabethtown, Pa./Elizabethtown) picked up his second high-profile award of the year on Thursday afternoon.  Through a district-wide voting process, Hawley was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District II First Team, making him eligible for the national ballot and Academic All-America consideration.

The Academic All-America program honors more than 800 male and female student-athletes annually who have succeeded at the highest level on the playing field and in the classroom. Individuals are selected through voting by CoSIDA (the College Sports Information Directors of America), a 2,000 member organization consisting of sports public relations professionals for colleges and universities in the United States and Canada.

Previously, Crane earned the 2006 Middle Atlantic Conference Scholar-Athlete Award for wrestling.  The honor is the highest awarded by the conference, recognizing the combined academic and athletic achievements of one senior student-athlete for each sport.

Crane was the 2005-06 Middle Atlantic Conference champion at 174 pounds, earning a spot in the NCAA Division III National Wrestling Meet.  He went 1-2 in the national tournament, finishing the season with an 18-9 overall record.

He placed two other times in the MAC tournament, finishing second at 174 pounds in the 2004-05 tournament and third at 165 pounds in the 2001-2002 meet.  He received the Lycoming wrestling Most Valuable Team Player award in 2005.  During his four-year career, Crane racked up a 52-38 overall record.

Crane earned a spot on the Lycoming College Dean’s List each semester, and is a member of the Beta Beta Beta Biology Honor Society and the Alpha Phi Sigma Criminal Justice Honor Society.  He was a three-time member of the Middle Atlantic Conference Honor Roll, and was honored by the National Wrestling Coaches Association as a Scholar All-American in 2005 and 2006.

He added extra emphasis to his classroom studies by participating in an internship at an environmental consulting agency.  He was accepted to the Duke University, Penn State University, and University of Michigan biology master’s degree programs.  Crane will continue his education at the University of Michigan to work towards a Master’s of Aquatic and Resource Management degree.

His leadership involvement spanned numerous areas including a term as President of the Alpha Phi Sigma.  He also served as a wrestling team captain this past season, leading both on the mats and during practice.  He and the Warrior wrestlers have partaken in several community service ventures including a Williamsport citywide bike race and a walk-run to benefit Habitat for Humanity. 

Crane is a mentor in the Lycoming Peer Athlete Leaders program (PAL).  The purpose of the program is to help new freshman student-athletes, and those others pointed out by coaches, to cope with the academic and social rigors that accompany the beginning of college life.  Crane was selected as a mentor for not only meeting the academic criteria, but for his commitment to positive citizenship towards the Lycoming College community.

Aside from being a tutor available to all Warrior athletes, Crane was charged with running the Lycoming wrestling study tables, making sure his teammates were on task with their school work.

To be eligible for Academic All-America program consideration, a student-athlete must be a varsity starter or key reserve, maintain a cumulative grade point average of 3.20 on a scale of 4.00, have reached sophomore athletic and academic standings at his/her current institution and be nominated by his/her sports information director. Since the program’s inception in 1952, CoSIDA has bestowed Academic All-America honors on more than 14,000 student-athletes in Divisions I, II, III and NAIA covering all NCAA championship sports.