Nate Reider Named PSAC Track Men's Field Athlete of the Year

SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. - After capturing the program's first national championship since 1992 by winning the javelin at the 2007 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Shippensburg men's track and field senior Nate Reider (York/Dallastown) was named Field Athlete of the Year by the PSAC track and field coaches on Wednesday.

Reider became the fifth national champion in team history and earned his second consecutive All-American honor in the javelin after finishing sixth at last year's national championships. His winning mark of 217' 2" was a career-best and three inches ahead of Tyson Allen of Emporia State who placed second.

Reider, who finished his career with six individual championships to his credit, including four this year, is the second athlete from Shippensburg to win an individual title in the javelin. Matt Opilo captured the program's first national championship in the javelin in 1978.

A four-time national qualifier, Reider won three PSAC championships this year. He captured first-place in the hammer throw with a season-best mark of 168' 6" while also winning the javelin for the second consecutive year at the conference outdoor championships hosted at Shippensburg in May. He also won the weight throw for the second-straight year at the indoor championships in February.

On the national level, Reider qualified for the NCAA outdoor championships in the javelin three times in 2005, 2006 and 2007 while also qualifying in the weight throw for the 2007 NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships where he placed fifth after setting a new PSAC indoor meet and school record for the second-straight season with a mark of 61' 6 3/4".

- Red Raider Track and Field -