LOCK HAVEN, Pa. - The Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference is pleased to announce its 2022-23 Winter Top 10 Award recipients, nominated and voted on by the sports information directors of the conference.
The PSAC Top 10 was initiated in the 1998-99 academic year and is awarded to those men and women who excel in both the classroom and in athletic competition.
The honorees for Winter 2022-23 are Eric Bartos (Mercyhurst), David Bocci (Clarion), Ann Carozza (West Chester), Bryan Dworek (Slippery Rock), Divonne Franklin (California Pa.), Rachel Johnson (IUP), John Paul Kromka (Pitt-Johnstown), Paige Mikesell (IUP), Ryan Miller (Lock Haven), and Sam Pirosko (Gannon).
Find this year's student-athlete capsules below. An all-time recorded list of PSAC Top 10 honorees can be found
here.
Eric Bartos
Mercyhurst
Valley City, Ohio / Buckeye Hills
Wrestling
Major: Intelligence Studies
Cumulative GPA: 3.60
Bartos finished the season with a 31-4 record at 133 pounds, including three wins over Millersville's Devin Flannery--who was ranked in the top five nationally on all three occasions. Bartos earned All-American honors after a fourth-place finish at nationals and also earned Super Region 1 and PSAC Wrestler of the Year honors. He won the 133-pound bracket at the Super Region 1 championships. He owns 117 career wins at Mercyhurst, becoming only the 12th Laker wrestler to achieve 100 or more victories, and has been named All-America in each of the last two seasons.
David Bocci
Clarion
Butler, Pa. / Butler
Men's Swimming
Major: Sport Management
Cumulative GPA: 3.51
Bocci earned the 2022-23 PSAC Men's Swimmer of the Year award--the first Golden Eagle male to win the award since 2009--after a season where he earned First Team All-American honors with an eighth-place finish in the 200 Fly at nationals. He is the first Clarion male swimmer to finish in the top eight at the NCAA Championships since the 2012-13 season. He was the PSAC champion in the 200 Fly with a meet record of 1:47.27 (also a school record at the time) and would later improve upon that time with a 1:46.19 at nationals. At the PSAC Championships he also placed second in the 200 Back, third in the 100 Fly, and sixth in the 200 IM. He also was part of the first-place 800 Freestyle Relay team at the meet. David also was a 2023 CSC Academic All-District Selection and previously was named the 2022 PSAC Men's Swimming Freshman of the Year.
Ann Carozza
West Chester
West Chester, Pa. / West Chester East
Women's Swimming
Major: Education
Cumulative GPA: 3.60
Carozza was the National Champion in the 200 Fly at the 2023 NCAA Championships and currently holds two Division II national records in the 100 and 200 Fly as well as three PSAC records. She claimed four individual All-America honors as well as three additional on relays at nationals. At the 2023 PSAC Championships, Carozza won four individual events and helped three relay teams to victory. She was named the 2022-23 PSAC Women's Swimming Athlete of the Year, the second time in her career she earned that honor. In her career, Carozza collected nine individual All-America plaudits and another 11 as a member of a relay during her five seasons of eligibility. On the conference level, Carozza won 12 individual PSAC titles and was part of 12 relay crowns. She was also named the PSAC Freshman of the Year in 2019 and is a two-time Academic All-America® selection by the nation's sports information directors for her work in the classroom
Bryan Dworek
Slippery Rock
Brookville, Pa. / Brookville
Men's Indoor Track and Field
Major: Health & Physical Education / Physical Activity & Fitness Management (Double)
Cumulative GPA: 3.745
Dworek earned All-America honors in the long jump with an 11th place finish at the 2023 National Championships. He was the PSAC champion in the long jump (in a competition that included three of the top four jumpers in the Atlantic Region), placed fourth in the 200-meter final, and was part of the PSAC champion 4x400 meter relay team. He set a new Slippery Rock school record in the long jump with a leap of 7.46 meters, breaking the former record that had stood for 34 years. He is a seven-time All-PSAC finisher between long jump and sprinting events and has scored in the long jump at every PSAC meet he has participated in during his career. He is also a two-time All-Region honoree in that event. Academically, Dworek has been a PSAC Scholar-Athlete in every semesteer and was also a USTFCCCA All-Academic honoree.
Divonne Franklin
California (Pa.)
Philadelphia, Pa. / Archbishop John Carroll
Women's Indoor Track & Field
Major: Biology (Pre-Medicine) (UDG) / Exercise Science & Health Promotion (Rehabilitation Science) (GRD)
Cumulative GPA: 3.64 (UDG) / 4.0 (GRD)
Franklin earned NCAA First-Team All-America honors in the 60m and 200m events at the NCAA Championships, placing second in the 60m finals (the best finish in modern California (Pa.) history) and fourth in the 200m. She was named the USTFCCCA Atlantic Region Track Athlete of the Year as well as the PSAC Women's Indoor Track Athlete of the Year. She set all-time league records in the 60m (7.27 seconds) and 200m (23.49) at nationals. She was named the Outstanding Track Athlete of the PSAC Championships after titles in both the 60m and 200m, winning those events for the third consecutive year. She earned All-PSAC honors in the 4x400 relay and was a six-time PSAC Track Athlete of the Week.
Rachel Johnson
IUP
Mohnton, Pa. / Governor Mifflin
Women's Swimming
Major: Human Resources & Employee Relations
Cumulative GPA: 4.0
Johnson won the prestigious NCAA Elite 90 award at the 2023 NCAA Championships and repeated as the PSAC Champion Scholar at the 2023 PSAC Championships. She was a four-time All-American at the 2023 NCAA Championships (in the 100 and 200 Breaststroke as well as the 200 and 400 medley relay teams. She defended her PSAC conference title in the 100 breaststroke with another win at the 2023 meet and was a four-time All-PSAC selection. She is a 13-time All-American and also earned a PSAC Winter Top 10 honor for the 2021-2022 season.
John Paul Kromka
Pitt-Johnstown
Monroeville, Pa. / Gateway
Men's Basketball
Major: Mechanical Engineering
Cumulative GPA: 3.94
Kromka led Pitt-Johnstown scoring (17.3 ppg), rebounding (7.2 rpg), field goal percentage (67.6), blocks (78), and steals (37.) His 67.6 field goal percentage led the PSAC and ranked second in NCAA Division II. His 78 blocks and 2.69 steals per game led the conference and ranked fourth and fifth in the nation, respectively. His postseason honors included 2022-23 CSC Division II Men's Basketball Academic All-American of the Year, D2CCA Honorable Mention All-American, First-Time NABC All-Atlantic Region, 2022-23 Bevo Francis Finalist, and was voted the 2023 PSAC West Defensive Athlete of the Year for the fourth consecutive year. He was a four-time All-PSAC West Men's Basketball selection, with three of those to the First Team. He was also a four-time Academic All-American and, back in 2018-19, was voted the PSAC West Men's Basketball Freshman of the Year.
Paige Mikesell
IUP
Clearfield, Pa. / Clearfield Area
Women's Swimming
Major: Health & Physical Education
Cumulative GPA: 4.0 (UDG) / 4.0 (GRD)
Mikesell was a six-time All-American at the 2023 NCAA Championships (in the 200 IM, 100 and 200 Fly, 200 Free, and 200 and 400 medley relays.) She set a school record in both the 100 Fly (53.45) and 200 IM (2:00.82) during prelims at nationals. She defended her title in the 200 IM at the 2023 PSAC Championships and was named to the 2022-23 CSC Academic All-America Team. Mikesell becomes a four-time PSAC Winter Top 10 honoree and is a 20-time Division II All-American. She has won 14 conference titles in her career and was the national champion in the 200 freestyle at the 2021 NCAA Division II Championships.
Ryan Miller
Lock Haven
Bradford, Pa. / Bradford
Men's Indoor Track & Field
Major: Biology (Ecology-Environmental)
Cumulative GPA: 4.0
Miller was the PSAC Champion at 400 meters for the second consecutive season and was an All-Region Performer (400m) during the 2022-23 indoor season. Miller's NCAA Division II provisional mark of 47.85 (school record) was the fastest time at 400 meters during the 2022-23 indoor campaign in the Atlantic Region. He also finished seventh at the PSAC Indoor Championships in the 200m. During the regular season he ran a school-record time of 47.85 and became the first LHU men’s sprinter in history to ever dip under the 48-second mark indoors.
Sam Pirosko
Gannon
Eastlake, Ohio / Eastlake North
Women's Basketball
Major: Physician Assistant
Cumulative GPA: 3.962
Pirosko led Gannon to a 29-5 record and first place in the PSAC West, averaging 20.4 points per game. She set a Gannon single-season record for points with 693 total, going over 1500 points in her career. She ranked second in the PSAC with a .553 shooting percentage and led Gannon with 7.5 rebounds per game. She scored in double digits in 33 consecutive games, scoring 20 or more points 19 times, including 10 of her last 11 games. She collected multiple postseason awards in addition to the PSAC West Athlete of the Year and D2CCA Atlantic Region Player of the year honors, including CSC First Team Academic All-American, D2CCA Second-Team All-American, WBCA Honorable Mention All-American, and CSC Academic All-District.