JEFFREY REINHART jreinhart@LNPnews.com
First Priscilla Jennings. Now Leander Toney. The former New Era Male Athlete of the Year has been named the USTFCCCA East Region Men’s Field Athlete of the Year.
Here is the press release from Shippensburg University, announcing Toney’s feat:
Redshirt freshman Leander Toney was named the East Region Field Athlete of the Year on Tuesday by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) following an outdoor season in which he recorded the second-best high jump nationally and cleared 7 feet twice.
Toney was one of 32 regional winners selected from Division II, as the USTFCCCA chose its top men’s track and field performers along with the top head coaches and assistant coaches in each of the eight regions. Lock Haven’s Ryan Blood was named the East Region Track Athlete of the Year after setting a meet record in the 5,000 meters at the PSAC Championships.
The outdoor season began with Toney earning victories at the PSAC East Challenge (6′ 9″) and the Bison Outdoor Classic (7′ 0.25″), an event in which he cleared 7 feet for the first time in his career and later was named the PSAC Men’s Outdoor Field Athlete of the Week.
Two weeks later, Toney produced the second-best high jump in the nation on his home track at the Fourth Annual Paul Kaiser Classic. Toney cleared 7′ 1.75″ and broke a 22-year-old school record that earned him an automatic qualification to the 2008 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, to be held this weekend in California.
Toney added a conference championship on May 3 when he bested the other competitors from the PSAC with a high jump of 6′ 11.75″.
The indoor season marked Toney’s collegiate debut, as the red-shirt freshman produced a high jump of 6′ 10 1/4″ at the Ursinus Classic, just his second-ever collegiate event, that held up as the best national mark by a freshman in the indoor season and the eighth-best performance overall.
He was also recognized as the PSAC Men’s Indoor Field Athlete of the Week after a 6′ 8″ jump in a victory at the DeSchriver Invitational on February 2.
Toney’s main competition in the high jump at the national championships will be from Joe Kindred of St. Augustine’s College in the CIAA. He recorded the nation’s best high jump this season of 7′ 2.5″ at the Raleigh Relays in March and was named the Southeast Region Field Athlete of the Year on Tuesday.
Shippensburg, under the guidance of head coach Dave Osanitsch, will be sending its largest contingent in school history to the Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships this weekend.
Nine athletes, all freshmen or sophomores, will be making the trip to Walnut, California for the 2008 Championships that will be held from Thursday through Saturday at Hilmer Lodge Stadium.
