SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University Athletic Communication Office has selected track & field and cross country standout Anna Igims and football quarterback Brayden Long as the 2023-24 RockAthletics.com Athletes of the Year.
 
The Athletic Communication Office selects two student-athletes each year as the Athletes of the Year and displays those athletes on the homepage at RockAthletics.com during the summer months in recognition of their accomplishments from the previous year.
 
Student-athletes must be at least All-Region honorees in their respective sport (or at least first team All-PSAC in sports that do not select All-Region teams) and must be in good academic standing to be considered for the RockAthletics.com Athlete of the Year honor.
 
It's no surprise Igims and Long were selected as the top athletes at SRU this year after the same duo was recognized just a few weeks ago as recipients of the 2024 NCAA Division II 50th Anniversary Scholarship. That honor went to just 23 total men and 23 total women nationwide from all sports in recognition of excellence in competition, academics and embracing the Division II model of "Life in the Balance." Igims and Long were the only two athletes from the PSAC to be recognized with the Division II Scholarship.
 
Igims, a May graduate from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is a repeat honoree for the RockAthletics.com Athlete of the Year award after also winning it in 2023. She put together a dominant year that spanned all three seasons of the 2023-24 academic year, which began when she earned first team All-PSAC and All-Region honors during the fall cross country season while leading The Rock to their first team title in women's cross country since 1995.
 
She followed that up with one of the best indoor seasons in SRU history when she was named both the PSAC and the Atlantic Region Track Athlete of the Year. She was also the Most Outstanding Track Athlete and the Most Outstanding Overall Athlete at the PSAC Indoor Championships after winning four different events and scoring 40 total points to help SRU to the 2023-24 PSAC team title. She was All-Region in all four events she won at the PSAC meet (mile, 3,000m, 5,000m, distance medley relay) and posted the fastest time in the PSAC in all four events. Her mile time of 4:56.84 established a new SRU indoor record.
 
Igims saved her best for last and closed out the year by earning first team All-America honors with a seventh place finish in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the 2024 NCAA Division II Outdoor National Championships. She shattered her own school record in the event twice, ultimately setting the new mark at 10:24.93, nearly 15 seconds faster than her previous record entering this season. She won both the 5,000-meter run and the steeplechase at the PSAC Championships and took second in the 1,500-meter run to score 28 points on the way to being named the Most Outstanding Track Athlete of the meet. Igims was All-Region in all three events to close her year with eight All-Region awards in 2023-24. She scored a total of 68 points for SRU at the two PSAC track championships out of a possible 70 points in the seven events she raced in.
 
In addition to her excellence on the track, Igims is also a standout student in the classroom. She graduated in May with a 3.98 GPA after earning her degree in school wellness education with a minor in public health. She was named to both the PSAC Winter and Spring Top 10 teams and is a nominee for the 2024 PSAC Pete Nevins Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
 
Long, a May graduate from Hanover, Pennsylvania, was one of the best quarterbacks in the country while leading The Rock football team to a top 10 national ranking during the fall. He took home the PSAC West and Super Region One Offensive Athlete of the Year awards and snagged a pair of All-America honors from the Don Hansen Football Gazette and D2football.com.
 
The highest accolade of the fall came when Long was named as a national finalist for the Harlon Hill Trophy, which goes to the Division II Player of the Year. He took fifth in the final voting for the award after a stellar junior season in which he ranked in the top 10 in Division II in nearly every passing category.
 
Long completed 69.4 percent of his passes for 3,808 yards with 35 touchdowns and just six interceptions while also rushing for five touchdowns on the ground. He led the PSAC in every passing category and ranked fourth nationally in completion percentage, fifth in passing touchdowns, sixth in passing yards, sixth in points responsible for (240), seventh in completions per game (22.3) and ninth in passing efficiency (163.4). His 3,808 yards and 35 TD passes are both the second-most in a single-season in program history.
 
Long was named the PSAC Champion Scholar award winner for owning the highest GPA of all athletes competing in the 2023 PSAC Championship game, making him the only football player in PSAC history to earn the PSAC Champion Scholar award AND be named an Athlete of the Year in the league.
 
In the classroom, Long put together a perfect 4.0 undergraduate career, graduating in May with a degree in sport management after passing 127 credit hours. He was named to PSAC Fall Top 10 honors and was one of just two Division II quarterbacks in the country to be named to the 2023 Academic All-America team. Long will also be a nominee for the 2024 PSAC Pete Nevins Scholar-Athlete of the Year award and will be the 2024 SRU nominee for the William V. Campbell Trophy presented by the National Football Foundation.
 
Igims and Long were two of the more than 425 exceptional student-athletes at Slippery Rock that helped SRU bring home the 2023-24 Dixon Trophy as the top athletics department in the PSAC. While they both earned their undergraduate degrees in May, they each have one year of eligibility remaining and will be back in the Green and White in the fall.
 

 
 
To stay up to date with all that happens at The Rock, follow our official Athletic Communication accounts on 'X' (formerly Twitter, @Rock_Athletics), Facebook (RockAthletics) and Instagram (RockAthletics).