MANSFIELD, Pa. – The Mansfield Department of Athletics has announced its nominees for the NCAA Division II 50^th anniversary Gold Award, and the Mounties are represented by Hall of Famers Heather Long and Steve McCloskey.
 
The Gold Award recognizes two individuals (one who identifies as male and one who identifies as female) who have made a positive impact in Division II - whether it be a current or former student-athlete, coach, faculty member or administrator from an active member school or conference who has distinguished themselves in the areas of athletics, professional achievement, service and leadership, and who have helped shape Division II over time.

In August, Division II kicked off a campaign to celebrate its 50^th anniversary.

The division was founded Aug. 6, 1973, when NCAA members voted to reorganize into three divisions at a special convention. When the split occurred, 193 schools in 13 conferences chose to become founding Division II members.
 
Long and McCloskey are two of 38 total nominees from the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC).
 
The PSAC's total of 38 nominations is most among all 23 Division II conferences, which collectively put forth 231 nominees for consideration. The PSAC's athletic directors, senior woman administrators, and sports information directors will now hold a vote to determine which two nominees will be selected as the conference's representatives in the national vote. The results of the PSAC's vote will be announced by November 6, 2023.
 
Long was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2014, McCloskey will be a part of the 2023 Alumni Athletic Hall of Fame class.
 
Long was a four-year letter winner and starter for Mansfield's field hockey and softball teams. In field hockey, she holds the MU, PSAC and NCAA career saves (860) record and single season saves (341) record. She was a member of the 2001 ECAC Championship team, the first and thus far only championship field hockey team in MU history.
 
McCloskey was named Mansfield's first full-time sports information director in 1988 and became one of the most decorated athletic communications professionals in the industry before his retirement in 2017. He was inducted into the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) Hall of Fame in 2016 and honored with CoSIDA's Lifetime Achievement Award the following year.