PSAC Announcement

LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – Slippery Rock University placed women's cross country runner Jennifer Cichra and football safety Michael Henwood on the Fall Top 10 team when the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference announced its fall academic honorees Wednesday.
 
The two honorees for SRU marks the seventh straight PSAC Top 10 team where The Rock have at least two of the 10 student-athletes recognized by the conference. Slippery Rock now leads all schools in the PSAC with a total of 92 Top 10 honorees since the award's inception in 1997. Shippensburg currently ranks second in the league with a total of 83 honorees.
 
In order to be eligible for the PSAC Top 10, a student-athlete must be at least a sophomore in athletic and academic standing, must own a cumulative GPA of 3.50 or above and must have significant athletic credentials. The conference awards Top 10 teams in the fall, winter and spring and each school in the league is allowed to nominate a maximum of two men and two women in each season. The fall sports considered included men's and women's cross country, field hockey, football, men's and women's soccer and volleyball. The teams are nominated for and voted on by the PSAC's athletic communication offices.
 
Both of the Slippery Rock honorees are seniors with perfect 4.0 GPAs that stand out among the highest achieving academic student-athletes in the conference. Cichra becomes a two-time PSAC Fall Top 10 honoree after also being recognized last year, while Henwood picks up his first career Fall Top 10 award.
 
Cichra, a senior distance runner from Renfrew, Pennsylvania, maintained a perfect 4.0 GPA after an impressive 165 credit hours while majoring in mechanical engineering with a minor in computing. She adds a second Fall Top 10 award to her growing list of academic honors that also includes a spot on the 2024-25 Academic All-America team and the 2024 NCAA Elite 90 award for owning the highest GPA of all athletes competing at the NCAA XC Championships. She is a three-time USTFCCCA All-Academic honoree in cross country and will close her career as a four-time PSAC Scholar-Athlete and four-time D2 Athletic Directors Association Academic Achievement honoree.
 
On the course this fall, Cichra stepped into a leadership role and led The Rock in three different races, including both the PSAC and NCAA Atlantic Region championship meets. She recorded the highest finishes of her career at both championship meets, earning first team All-PSAC honors with an eighth place showing at the PSAC meet and picking up All-Region honors with a 13th place finish at regionals. It marked the second straight All-PSAC and All-Region awards for Cichra in the sport of cross country. She improved at the PSAC meet in each of the last three years, climbing from 78th at the 2023 championships to eighth in her senior year.
 
Henwood, a senior safety from Hermitage, Pennsylvania, maintained a perfect 4.0 GPA after 138 credit hours while majoring in exercise science with a pre-med track. He picks up his first career Top 10 award after adding a third straight Academic All-District honor earlier this academic year. A 2024-25 Academic All-American, Henwood is also on the Academic All-America ballot again this fall and has a chance to become a two-time honoree. He was a semifinalist for the William Campbell Trophy, was the SRU nominee for the 2024-25 AFCA Good Works team and is a four-time PSAC Scholar-Athlete and a four-time D2ADA Academic Achievement honoree.
 
On the field this fall, Henwood led Slippery Rock in total tackles and solo tackles for the second year in a row on his way to earning All-PSAC honors. He finished with 67 tackles, 42 solo stops and a team-high two interceptions, one of which he returned for his first career touchdown in a win over Clarion. Henwood was one of only four SRU defensive players to start every game this year and closed his career by starting all 24 games in 2024 and 2025. He helped the team to four NCAA playoff appearances during his tenure, including a trip to the national semifinals in 2024.
 
Slippery Rock was one of four institutions in the PSAC to place two athletes on the Fall Top 10 team, joining Shippensburg, Gannon and Indiana (Pa.). East Stroudsburg and Kutztown each had one honoree. The full list of Fall Top 10 honorees can be found below.
 
2025 PSAC FALL TOP 10
Emma Albee, Shippensburg (field hockey)
Emily Bowers, Gannon (women's XC)
Jennifer Cichra, Slippery Rock (women's XC)
Anna Coulter, East Stroudsburg (volleyball)
Mike Formica, Indiana (men's XC)
Michael Henwood, Slippery Rock (football)
Judd Novak, Kutztown (football)
Sverre Orten, Gannon (men's soccer)
Garrett Quinan, Shippensburg (men's XC)
Elle Smith, Indiana (women's XC)





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