Rider names athletes of the year

BJ Clagon of the wrestling team and Emily Ritter of the cross country and track & field team have been named the Rider University Athletes of the Year for 2014-15.

Clagon, a red-shirt freshman from Toms River, N.J. (Toms River South), placed fifth in the nation at the NCAA Championships to earn All-America honors.

“The coaching staff could not be more proud of BJ becoming the first freshman to earn All-America honors in any sport at Rider,” said Rider head wrestling coach Gary Taylor.  “His future is bright as he has his eyes on winning a National Championship.”

“Every athlete at Rider would love to win this award,” said Clagon, who was also named the Eastern Wrestling League Championships Most Outstanding Wrestler and the EWL Rookie of the Year, “so I am pretty happy about getting it. I couldn’t be more excited. I am at a loss for words.”

Ritter, a senior from Millsboro, Del. (Sussex Tech), placed ninth in the nation in the 3,000m steeplechase at the NCAA Outdoor Championships to earn Second Team All-America honors.

“Winning this award is a great honor that I am humbled to accept,” said Ritter, who broke her own Rider steeplechase record in the NCAA preliminaries to become the first woman from Rider to advance to the NCAA Championships. In the Championship semifinals, held in Eugene, Oregon, Ritter placed second in her heat, seventh overall among the 24 national qualifiers.

“After I took the time to reflect on my season and re-read over my goals I had set in the beginning of the year, I realized how far I have come and that I far exceeded my goals,” Ritter said. “In the beginning of the season I don't think I would be able to say I could run sub 10 (minutes) in the steeple chase and within a second of my PR in four consecutive races." 

“Emily has had one of the greatest and most successful years you could have as an athlete,” said Rider cross country/track & field head coach Bob Hamer.  “She has been on such a roll that culminated with her earning All-America status at the NCAA Championships.”

Ritter earned All-East honors in three different events in 2014-15, for cross country, indoor track & field and outdoor track & field. During the Indoor season Ritter ran on the ECAC Championship Distance Medley Relay.

“I am really proud of her accomplishments and she is a great representative for our program and Rider University,” Hamer said. “She has shown that if you have the talent and ability and a willingness to work hard you can achieve great things.”   

“After the NCAA finals, I was hard on myself since I missed first team All-American by practically a step,” said Ritter, who won the steeplechase and placed second in both the 1500m and the 5,000m to earn Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championships Most Outstanding Performer honors. “My desire to always get to the next level and perform at my best is both what makes me a competitive runner and also what holds me back from owning my accomplishments.”

In the fall, Ritter placed a Rider-best fourth in the MAAC Cross Country Championship race, and went on to place a Rider-best second in the ECAC Championships.  Ritter has one season of cross country eligibility remaining. “If it wasn't for the coaches, especially Coach Hamer, I wouldn't have had the fitness and confidence to accomplish these things,” Ritter said. “What really made these last few weeks such an amazing experience has been the support I received, not just from the team and family but from the entire Rider community. It’s a pretty special feeling to know so many people believe you can accomplish something, which really helped me stay positive and relaxed walking up to the start line in (University of Oregon) Hayward Fields. This entire journey has been amazing and I can't wait to see what cross country holds in store.”

“This is a big award,” said Clagon, who defeated the number one ranked wrestler in the nation for the EWL 149 pound Title. “This year has been like a dream. Last year when I was here red-shirting (wrestler) Rob Deutsch won this award and I remember thinking how big a deal it was. I think to have two wrestlers win the award two years in a row says a lot about our coaching staff. The coaches have high expectations of us.”

At the NCAA Championships Clagon won six of eight matches to place fifth in the nation. The 15th seed at Nationals, Clagon defeated the fifth, eighth, 13th and 16th seeds. “Placing fifth was enjoyable but I have higher goals,” said Clagon. “I want to be a National Champion.”

Rider has had 13 other All-American wrestlers but Clagon is the first to do so as a freshman. None have ever finished higher than third in the nation. Clagon believes he can. “I just need to train harder and improve,” Clagon said.