LOCK HAVEN, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University track and field team landed three major award winners when the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference announced its 2022 Outdoor Track and Field Athletes of the Year Tuesday afternoon.
 
Javelin throwers Trinity Clark and Dalton Anderson swept the PSAC Field Athlete of the Year awards, while freshman sprinter and high jumper AJ Virata was named the Male Freshman of the Year.
 
The major awards for Clark and Anderson are no surprise after that same duo were named the Atlantic Region Field Athletes of the Year back on June 6. Those honors came after both of them won PSAC titles in the javelin and went on to earn first team All-America honors at the NCAA Division II National Championships, where they were both the highest scoring PSAC athletes in any event.
 
Clark took third at the national meet with a collegiate best of 50.03 meters, which was just shy of six full meters better than any other thrower in the region this spring. That effort was also just the second 50+ meter throw by any female in the region since 2015. In addition to her performance in the javelin, she also scored points in the team standings at the PSAC meet in both the shot put and the discus.
 
Anderson won the PSAC title with a collegiate best of 66.85 meters, which led all throwers in the region. He finished eighth at the National Championships to become the only PSAC male athlete to score in any events at the national meet.
 
Virata capped a stellar first year of collegiate competition by scoring 26 points at the PSAC Championships after he won the high jump and took second in both the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes. He cleared a season-best height of 2.05 meters in the high jump and ran times of 10.80 seconds in the 100m and 21.61 seconds in the 200m.
 
Slippery Rock's three major award winners led all schools in the PSAC.
 
The major awards were rounded out by Male Track Athlete of the Year Sam Hartman (Seton Hill), Male Coach of the Year Dave Osanitsch (Shippensburg), Female Track Athlete of the Year Divonne Franklin (Cal U), Female Freshman of the Year Darian Hauf (Millersville) and Female Coach of the Year Andy Young (Millersville).
 
 

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