LOWELL, Mass. – UMass Lowell junior distance runner Benjamin Drezek (Cumberland, R.I.) has been named the America East Men's Cross Country Scholar Athlete for the Fall of 2019.  The announcement was made by the conference today.

"It is important to have a strong balance between both athletics and academics," said Drezek. "This often requires some sacrifice, but the reward is well worth it in the end."

Drezek describes the news as "exciting."  His coach was not surprised.

"Ben works hard at everything that he does," according to UMass Lowell Cross Country Head Coach Gary Gardner.  "Anything and everything that he does, whether it's academics, athletics or his work with SAAC, he puts his mind to; it gets his full attention and when you do that success follows."

Drezek with a 3.961 GPA is an honor student and has been a regular on the Dean's List throughout his UMass Lowell career.  He was named to the America East All-Academic Team during the most recent cross country season and was named the winner of the Elite 18 Award at this year's Cross Country Championships.  Drezek was also named to the America East Commissioner's Honor Roll for all of his semesters at UMass Lowell and was named to both the Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field All-Academic Teams and the USTFCCCA All-Academic Team this past spring.  He also released an America East Voices story on mental health for the Better Together campaign.  

Drezek is a member of the Honors College and SAAC where he serves as the President on the UMass Lowell campus and is an America East SAAC Representative.  He has completed community service with SAAC.  The junior was part of the Up 'til Dawn campaign on the UMass Lowell campus to raise money for St. Jude's.  Drezek has already been accepted into the DPT program for graduate school.  He is minoring in Nutrition.

In competition Drezek had a strong season. He earned a trip to the NCAA Championships with a 12th place finish at the NCAA Northeast Regional.  Drezek was the second River Hawk scorer, finishing eighth overall, at the America East Cross Country Championships.  His time 24:16.5 was the best of his career at the 8k distance.  UMass Lowell finished second in the battle for the team championship.