Benjamin Fazio Named Liberty League Performer of the Week

2015 Oct 6

Benjamin Fazio of East Greenwich has been named the Performer of the Week in men's cross country, the Liberty League has announced.

Fazio (East Greenwich, RI / East Greenwich), a junior, ran at a 5:00 pace and sprinted to victory in the 37th Annual Mike Woods Geneseo Cross Country Invitational, an 8k race at Letchworth State Park. He finished in 24:46.6 to lead Rensselaer to third place in the 38-school event. He was first among 534 runners, outdistancing the runner-up by nearly seven seconds (24:53.1).

This is the second weekly award for Fazio, who was also recognized on September 15 after overcaming a three-second deficit with a quarter mile to go and winning the Saratoga Invitational by more than seven seconds. He ran that 6K course in a 5:04 pace, finishing with a time of 18:51.5. It was his first race of the season and he helped the Engineers to a third place finish in the 21-school meet that featured 302 runners.

Fazio is coming off a sophomore season in which he finished second (25:21.3) at the Liberty League Championship, helping RPI to second, and eighth at the NCAA Atlantic Regional Championship, qualifying for the NCAA National Championships. He ran a season-best 24:32.4 (4:56 mile pace) at the national event, placing 26th to earn National All-America and becoming Rensselaer's first men's cross country National All-America. He was also All-Liberty League First Team and All-Region.

As a freshman, the materials engineering major was All-Liberty League Second Team after finishing 14th at the league championship.

Rensselaer competes in the Inter-Regional Border Battle hosted by Rowan University on Saturday (11:45am).