LOCK HAVEN, Pa.- The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) released its Outdoor Track and Field awards on Thursday afternoon, and
Ralph Casper (York, Pa./York Suburban) earned Men's Outdoor Field Athlete of the Year honors.
Casper recently concluded his 2023 Outdoor Track and Field season at the Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships, finishing with a National Championship in the shot put, the first by a WCU male athlete in the Golden Rams Division II era, and a pair of First Team All-American honors (shot put, discus). This performance, which came over Memorial Day weekend in Colorado, was only a fitting end to a stellar 2022-23 season, which saw Casper capture the PSAC shot put crown at both the Indoor and Outdoor Championships, along with a Discus Title at the Outdoor Championships.
The graduate student thrower rewrote the record book for West Chester during the Outdoor season, setting a new program record in the shot put during the Championships of the Americas at the 127
th Penn Relays before setting a new discus record at the National Championships, as he finished fifth in this event after being seeded 12
th entering the competition. Casper's two top-fives and subsequent First Team All-America citations at the National Championships led the Golden Rams to a 22nd-place finish at the Outdoor National Championships.
Earlier in the Outdoor season, Casper was also named PSAC Men's Field Athlete of the Meet at the PSAC Outdoor Championships before being named a USTFCCCA All-Atlantic Region honoree and eventually a First Team All-American by the USTFCCCA as well. Casper was also recognized for his Academic Achievements earlier this year, earning Collegiate Sports Communicators (CSC-formerly CoSIDA) Academic All-District honors, which led to him advancing to the CSC Academic All-America Ballot (1
st, 2
nd, and 3
rd team Academic All-Americans will be announced later this month).
Casper was a two-time All-PSAC honoree at the Outdoor Track and Field Championships and one of three Golden Rams to earn All-PSAC honors as
Michael Nieman (Lansdale, Pa./Lansdale Catholic) and
Dayshawn Jacobs (West Chester, Pa./Rustin) both earned All-League honors in the high jump and triple jump, respectively for the men's track and field squad.
Zhayria Washington (West Chester, Pa./Rustin) earned All-Conference honors in the discus, while the 4x100 relay team picked up All-League honors for the women's track and field team.
