MANSFIELD – Men's basketball standout Joe Bell and record-setting sprinter Justen Johnson were named the Mansfield University Male co-Winter Athletes of the Year while PSAC 5000-meter champion Brenae Edwards and PSAC scoring champion Mallory Moore were selected Mansfield University Female co-Winter Athletes of the Year for their historic performances during the 2011-12 season.

The announcement was made at the MU Winter Sports Banquet held recently.

It marks the first time in the in the 14 years that Mansfield has honored both men's and women's athletes of the year that co-winners have been selected for each gender.

No PSAC men's basketball player had ever earned PSAC East Freshman of the Week honors eight times before Joe Bell did so this season. Starting the year as an unknown rookie, Bell ended the season as one of the most feared and productive players in the PSAC, becoming just the fourth player in school history to be named PSAC East Freshman of the Year.

A 2^nd Team All-PSAC East selection this season, Bell started 25 of 26 games for the Mountaineers where he topped the PSAC in shooting percentage by connecting on 57.0% of his shots from the floor. Bell ranked seventh in the conference in scoring averaging 16.3 points per game and was 14^th in rebounding averaging 6.9 boards per outing.

He scored in double-figures 23 times during the course of the season including the last 17 straight games. Bell's 424 points were the most scored by a freshman in the PSAC this season and the second most by a first-year player in school history.

During the 2011-12 season, Justen Johnson went where no Mountaineer sprinter had ever been before.

The senior, who had been hampered by injuries throughout his first three seasons, overcame three years of frustration and disappointment to become the first sprinter in Mountaineer history to win a PSAC Championship and he did it in the most demanding of the sprint events in the 400 meters.

Not only did Johnson win the conference 400 meter title, he also become the first Mansfield sprinter to earn a trip to the NCAA Division II Championship where he finished 12^th in the nation.

While Johnson had no equal in the PSAC in the 400 meters, he was also exceptional in shorter distances ranking fourth in the conference in the 200 meters. Johnson also set new school records in the 60-meter, 200-meter, 400-meter and 500-meter dashes during the course of the season.

His season was so exceptional that he was recognized in voting conducted amongst the PSAC head track and field coach's as the 2012-12 PSAC Track Athlete of the Year. It marked just the second time in school history a Mountaineer male athlete has been so honored.

As exceptional in the classroom as he is on the track, Johnson is also a PSAC and MU Presidential Scholar-Athlete.

Brenae Edwards maintained her exceptionality again this season by becoming the first woman runner in school history to repeat as a PSAC Champions when she again won the 5,000 meters at the PSAC Indoor Track & Field Championship with a track record time of 16:44.6.

For the past three years, Edwards has competed at a different level than most NCAA Division II runners, often challenging herself in all Division I fields. She competed at that level again this year, finishing 5^th in the Division I Great Dane Invitational with a school-record time of 9:57.7 in the 3000 meters. Edwards followed that by becoming the first non-Division I runner ever to compete at the ECAC Championship where she shattered her 3000 meter record set earlier in the season by five seconds.

Edwards went on to qualify for her third-straight NCAA Division II Championship where she hoped to become the first three-peat All-American in school history.

But in a cruel twist, Edwards suffered an injury just prior to the championship run. Although, in a remarkable display of courage, she was determined to compete despite the injury, Edwards was forced to leave the race after just two laps.

Even with that disappointment, Edwards was one of the best runners in Division II winning the 5000 meters at the Division II Challenge. In addition she had the fast time in the Atlantic Region and earned All-Regional honors all while posting the 8^th fastest time in the nation.

A PSAC and MU Presidential Scholar athlete many times over, Edwards earns her 6^th MU Athlete of the Year citation, the second most in school history.

During the 2011-12 season, Mallory Moore achieved something never achieved before in the history of the Mountaineer women's basketball program when she became the first player in school history to win the PSAC scoring title. It was a crowning achievement to a glorious career.

From the first day she stepped on the court at Decker Gymnasium, Moore has been the best player on the team leading the Mountaineers in scoring and rebounding in each of her four seasons.

Moore was the most dominating all-around player in the PSAC in 2011-12. This season she averaged a conference best 18.8 points per game while also connecting on a PSAC best, and school-record, 152 free throws. She ranked 2^nd in the conference in steals with 75 as well as second in offensive rebounds. Moore was also 5^th in the PSAC in free throw percentage and 11^th in overall rebounding averaging 7.5 boards per game.

She was equally as exceptional on the national scale, ranking 17^th overall in Division II in scoring and 21^st in steals. Moore's 489 points this season are the second most in school history as is her 18.8 points per game average.

She concluded one of the greatest careers in school history by ranking second in all-time scoring with 1,547 points while finishing third in steals with 257. Moore's 814 rebounds makes her the only player in school history to record more than 1,500 points, 800 rebounds and 200 steals in a season.

In addition, she recorded the program's first-ever triple-double by scoring 28 points, pulling down 10 rebounds and recording 10 steals – all in just 19 minutes of play – in a win over Central Penn.

A three-time PSAC East Player of the Week selection – the most of any player this year – Moore became the first Mountaineer women's player to earn back-to-back All-PSAC East selections since 2006-07.

 
Other Mansfield University Winter Sports Award Winners

Men's Basketball                           
MIP – Charles Becoats                  MVP – Joe Bell

Women's Basketball                     
MIP – Alyssa DeRichie                  MVP – Mallory Moore

Men's Indoor Track                        
MIP – Michael Robinson               MVP – Justen Johnson

Women's Indoor Track                 
MIP – Alicia Edkin                           MVP – Brenae Edwards

Women's Swimming                    
MIP – Christine Gillies                   MVP – Katie McFadden

Cheerleading                                  
MIP – Cynthia Toth                         MVP – Kayleigh Lane