After a conference-wide vote by the Pennsylvania State Athlete Conference's (PSAC) athletic directors, senior woman administrators, and sports information directors, Bloomsburg's Jan Hutchinson and Pitt-Johnstown's Pat Pecora have been selected as the conference's representatives and finalists for the NCAA Division II 50^th Anniversary Gold Award.
 
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.
 
"From a pool of excellent candidates, Jan and Pat are the cream of the crop," said Steve Murray, PSAC Commissioner. "Both have set the standard for competitive excellence over the course of their respective careers while always being student-athlete focused. We are so proud to call each of them our own and very pleased to see them advance to national consideration for this Division II-wide honor."
 
The PSAC collected a total of 38 nominations from its member institutions—most among all 23 Division II conferences—which collectively put forth 231 nominees for consideration.

The NCAA Division II Management Council Identity Subcommittee will review each conference's finalists and select two overall winners, who will be recognized at the 2024 NCAA Convention in Phoenix, Ariz.

Jan Hutchinson spent 33 years as the Huskies coach of field hockey and softball. As head field hockey coach, she coached the program to 16 national championships and 16 conference titles. As softball coach, she is the NCAA Division II all-time leader in career wins and made an NCAA-record 28 consecutive trips to the Division II championships. She also is the winningest collegiate coach in any division with 1,806 combined wins between field hockey and softball. Her field hockey teams posted winning records in 31 of her 32 seasons and she is the only coach in NCAA field hockey history with over 500 victories. In softball, Hutchinson posted a record of 1215-288-2 and made an NCAA record 28 consecutive trips to the Division II NCAA championship tournament. In 1981-82, Hutchinson and the Huskies claimed the national championship "double", claiming the field hockey title in the fall and the softball championship in the spring.
 
Pat Pecora is the winningest coach in all of collegiate wrestling history, serving as Pitt-Johnstown's head wrestling coach for 47 years. He has also doubled as Pitt-Johnstown's athletic director since 2008. He has accumulated a 646-152-5 overall record and a .805 career winning percentage. Pecora, the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) National Coach of the Year in 1995, 1999, 2019, and 2022, has led Pitt-Johnstown to a pair of NCAA Division II National Championships, 25 NCAA Regional titles, and seven straight Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championships.  His teams won five consecutive NCAA Regional titles from 2003 through 2007 and ten in a row from 1992 through 2001.  Pecora has been named the NCAA Regional Coach of the Year 21 times and also earned induction into nine halls of fame.  Pecora has tutored 166 All-Americans and 14 individual national champions who have combined for 22 total titles.
 
To learn more about Division II's 50th anniversary celebration, visit ncaa.org/dii50.