‘Role model’ college athlete collapses and dies at half-marathon, PA officials say

A collegiate athlete approaching her final year of college died after she collapsed during a half-marathon race, Pennsylvania school officials say.

Thiel College said Toby Atwood was running the Presque Isle Half Marathon in Erie on July 20 when she collapsed for unknown reasons.

She was taken to a hospital, where she died, Erie News Now reported. Race organizers confirmed the runner’s death in a July 22 post on Facebook.

Those close to her said running half marathons were among her favorite favorite activities.

Doctors revealed to Atwood’s family that she had a heart arrhythmia, according to the Leader Times.

Atwood was an incoming senior at Thiel College, where she was a member of the school’s tennis team. She was named co-captain during the 2024 season, which she participated in as the program’s No. 1 singles player.

The program said in a Facebook post it would be playing the upcoming season “with heavy hearts, but with her love to carry us through.”

The 21-year-old from from Kittanning, Pennsylvania, was also a 4.0 student and the president of the Zeta Tau Alpha sorority on her campus.

“Toby truly left her mark while she was with us,” her sorority said. “She was seen as a leader, role model and mentor. She was strong, resilient, and never afraid to speak her mind.”

According to a GoFundMe, Atwood’s presence “could light up an entire room.” She was known for her positivity and “genuine enthusiasm for life.”

“Toby excelled in everything she loved — wrestling, tennis, running — and poured her heart into all of it,” loved ones said. “It is both a sorrowful and heartwarming truth that she passed away doing something she was so passionate about. She was one of the most hardworking, resilient, and kind individuals one could ever meet.”

Thiel College is in Greenville, about an 80-mile drive northwest from Pittsburgh.