TOWSON, Md. --- Moravian College senior Ryan Harper has been named one of the Landmark Conference Men's Track & Field Athletes of the Week.

With the unprecedented cancellation of spring sports due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Landmark Conference will be recognizing an athlete from each member institution in each conference-sponsored spring sport for the remainder of the academic year. Honorees were nominated for recognition by their respective institution based on achievements from the shortened season and career accolades.

Harper helped the track & field squad to four Landmark Conference Indoor Championships and three Landmark Conference Outdoor titles in his four years in Bethlehem. Indoors, Ryan captured the 2020 Landmark Conference indoor title in the weight throw while also garnering United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association All-Mideast Region for being in the top five in the region in the event. Ryan is a four-time Landmark All-Conference Second Team selection for runner-up finishes in the weight throw and shot put in both 2018 and 2019. He is ranked third in school history in the weight throw with a toss of 15.98 meters (52-5.25). Outdoors, Ryan won the 2017 and 2018 Landmark Conference titles in the shot put. He earned a pair of Landmark All-Conference Second Team accolades with a runner-up in the shot put in 2019 and the hammer throw in 2018. Ryan was named to the Landmark Conference Winter and Spring Academic Honor Rolls three times each, and he has made Moravian's Dean's List seven times while being a member of Chi Alpha Sigma National College Athlete Honor Society. Ryan is the son of Dianne and Daniel Harper and is majoring in early childhood special education at Moravian.

"Ryan is just an awesome person," noted Director of Cross Country and Track & Field Jesse Baumann. "He obviously had a big appreciation for being a Hound with his mom being a Hall of Famer. He's a great worker, easy to get along with, and leads by example of how to be an exemplary student-athlete. He came to Bethlehem with a lot of potential but really worked to achieve some of the success he did, especially in the weight and hammer throws where he knocked on the door of Greg Cahill and John Lesoine's school records. He juggled a number of responsibilities while here but never complained and got his work done. The Kutztown meet this past February comes to mind when he was on his feet all day student-teaching and had to throw shot put that evening which probably hindered his performance. That being said, Ryan didn't complain, he was just the type to get work done and, in the end, knew how to perform at a high level when it was needed. He leaves Moravian with a great legacy of being one of the best throwers we've had here, but more importantly is just a really good person who is going to become a great teacher."

View the full Landmark Conference Athlete of the Week list at https://landmark.prestosports.com/news/2019-20/2020-05-04aotw.