Titan Sports Hall of Fame
The first cross country runner in school history to qualify for nationals in all four years, Christine Paolini Lazzara was a tremendous talent for the Westminster College women's cross country team in the late 1990s under head coach Gary Lilly.
In addition to her trips to the NAIA Championships in Kenosha, Wis., each year, Paolini Lazzara was the team's leading runner and was voted MVP in each of her four seasons. She won 12 individual races during her career including four as a senior. She qualified for the 1997 national meet by placing fourth at the Keystone-Empire Collegiate Conference (KECC) Championships with a 5-kilometer time of 20:19.
Paolini Lazzara, who was also a member of the track and field club team, was an excellent student having earned NAIA Scholar-Athlete awards for two years as well as earning Dean's List recognition in 11 out of 12 terms. She capped off her career by being named the 1998 David Fawcett Award recipient.
A native of New Castle and a Shenango High School graduate, Paolini Lazzara is a 1998 Westminster graduate with a degree in elementary education. She resides in Cranberry Twp., Pa., with her husband Christopher Lazzara and their three children, Grace, Anna, and Audra. She is employed in the North Allegheny School District as a reading specialist.
