PORTLAND, Ore. – Portland Pilots Cross Country and Track stars Matt Strangio and Laura Pellicoro have been named the 2024-25 Fr. Chester Prusynski Student-Athletes of the Year.
The award recognizes the two top student-athletes – one on the men's side and one on the women's – from the past academic year for Pilot Athletics. The award is the most prestigious University honor for student-athletes, with the name of the award changed in 2010 to honor Rev. Chester Prusynski, C.S.C, a bastion of the University community and an ardent supporter of Pilot Athletics for almost 50 years.
Strangio had a dominant season in cross country, indoor and outdoor track for the Pilots. In cross country, Strangio was named the WCC Co-Runner of the Year for the second year in a row after helping the Pilots capture their 35th team title and placing second individually at the 2024 WCC Cross Country Championships. He led the Pilots to a fifth-place finish at the NCAA West Regional while placing second individually and placed 22nd at the NCAA Cross Country Championships, earning All-American honors with the highest finish for a Pilot since 2018.
In track, Strangio excelled in both the indoor and outdoor seasons. For indoor, he earned Second Team All-American honors at the NCAA Indoor Championships, finishing 10th in the 3,000-meter. Strangio set records this season in the mile, 3,000m and 5,000m. In the outdoor season, he was a first team All-American in the 5,000-meter after clocking a school-record time of 13:23.28. He also won his heat at the West Regional, delivering a dominant performance that included a facility record time at E.B. Cushing Stadium (13:25.98). Strangio set a record in the 1,500m as well this season.
Pellicoro capped off a stellar career with superb cross country and track seasons. In cross country, Pellicoro was an All-American with her 28th place finish at the NCAA Cross Country Championships. It's the second time she'd earned All-American honors in her career, making her just the second Pilot in program history to twice earn the honor in cross country. Pellicoro earned All-Region honors at the NCAA West Regional as well as All-WCC First Team honors at the WCC Championships.
Pellicoro set numerous records across both the indoor and outdoor track seasons. She was an All-American in both indoor and outdoor track, earning second team in the indoor mile and first team in the outdoor 800m. Pellicoro set school records in the 1,000m, the mile and the 800m for indoor and also set the outdoor 800m record. For indoor track, her two records set in the indoor mile and 1,000m were the fastest in the NCAA this season, with her 1,000m time of 2:37.04 being the fastest in collegiate history.
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