CORVALLIS, Ore. – Corban University’s Valerie Schmidt and Lewis-Clark State College’s Clayton VanDyke were named the 2022 Cascade Collegiate Conference WVT Laboratory Track and Field Athletes of the Year, announced Wednesday by the conference office.
The athletes were nominated and voted on by the head track and field coaches in the CCC. Other women’s nominees: UBC’s Katherine Lucas, College of Idaho’s Catylynn Duff, Eastern Oregon University’s Maggie Ledbetter, Lewis-Clark State College’s Jennah Carpenter, and Southern Oregon University’s Abi Stevens. Other men’s nominees: UBC’s Rowan Hamilton, Corban University’s Robert Swoboda, and Eastern Oregon University’s TJ Davis.
Schmidt made history this year as Corban’s first-ever national champion in track and field after winning the NAIA Heptathlon Championship with 5,158 points – breaking the CCC record set almost 30 years ago in 1995 in the process. The Battle Ground, Wash., native also won the event at the 2022 CCC Track and Field Championship, presented by U.S. Bank, setting a new meet record of 5,086 points.
Not only does Schmidt hold conference records, the junior also holds multiple school records: heptathlon, 100-meter hurdles, and the long jump. Schmidt also ranks in the top-10 in Corban history in the 200m, 400m hurdles, long jump, high jump, and shot put.
On the men’s side, it was a tight race with all four nominees earning votes. VanDyke –
who was recently named the CCC U.S. Bank Co-Scholar-Athlete of the Year – stood out among the group after leaving behind a stellar legacy at LC State.
The senior from Vernal, Utah, holds just about every track record for the middle distances: indoor 600m, indoor 800m, indoor 1000m, indoor mile, outdoor 800m and outdoor 1500m. He was also a member of record-setting indoor 4x400m relay (3:23.66), outdoor 4x400m relay (3:21.08) and outdoor 4x800m relay (7:46.52) teams.
VanDyke is a two-time conference 800m and 1500m champion, four-time national runner-up and won the 2022 Indoor 800m Championship. At nationals, VanDyke has never placed worse than fifth and holds seven All-American honors. He is a two-time USTFCCCA Regional Athlete of the Year and was named this year’s CCC Men’s Track Athlete of the Meet at the CCC Track and Field Championship.
The same weekend VanDyke defended his titles in the 800m and 1500m, VanDyke graduated Magna Cum Laude.