April 3, 2008

Anderson Named Indoor Athlete of the Year for Second Time

    Youngstown -- Youngstown State senior Bethany Anderson has been voted the Horizon League Indoor Track and Field Athlete of the Year for the second straight time, the league announced on Wednesday.
    Anderson was previously honored as the Outstanding Field Performer at the Horizon League Championships when she won her third straight weight throw title.
    Anderson is the first YSU student-athlete to repeat as the Athlete of the Year, and she collected the third overall award for the school. Former All-America runner Kurt Michaelis earned the men's award in 2003.
    Anderson, despite competing for only a month this season, added to her remarkable list of career accomplishments. This season she set YSU and Horizon League records in the weight throw and hit the NCAA provisional qualifying mark for the second straight year. She finished ranked 25th nationally in the weight.
    Counting the indoor and outdoor seasons, Anderson has been named Field Newcomer of the Year twice, Outstanding Field Performer three times, the Indoor Athlete of the Year twice and the YSU Female Student-Athlete of the Year.
    She has won 11 career individual league titles and is one of only two student-athletes in league history to by a three-time champion in two different events. She finished her indoor career as the league record holder in both the shot put and weight throw.
    Valparaiso's Steve Bartholomew earned the men's award after finishing 16th at the NCAA Championships in the weight throw.