M-F Athletic National Athletes of the Week (May 16)
NEW ORLEANS – Records keep falling like raindrops.
Here are our M-F Athletic National Athletes of the Week in collegiate track & field for May 16, 2023!
- NCAA Division I Men – Jaydon Hibbert, Arkansas
- NCAA Division I Women – Britton Wilson, Arkansas
- NCAA Division II Men – Quinton Sansing, West Texas A&M
- NCAA Division II Women – Divonne Franklin, California (Pa.)
- NCAA Division III Men – Cade Gray, Ripon
- NCAA Division III Women – Michelle Kwafo, Coast Guard
- NAIA Men – Davonte Vanterpool, Southeastern (Fla.)
- NAIA Women – Hannah Antkoviak, Olivet Nazarene
Find out more about each of these athletes by scrolling below.
National Athlete of the Week is an award selected and presented by the USTFCCCA Communications Staff at the beginning of each week to 14 collegiate cross country athletes, when applicable (male and female for each of the three NCAA divisions, the NAIA and the NJCAA).
Nominations are open to the public. Coaches and sports information directors are encouraged to nominate their student-athletes; as are student-athletes, their families and friends, and fans of their programs. Nominated athletes are noticed before those athletes found through searching TFRRS.
The award seeks to highlight not only the very best times, marks and scores on a week-to-week basis, but also performances that were significant on the national landscape and/or the latest in a series of strong outings. Quality of competition, suspenseful finishes and other factors will also play a role in the decision.
NCAA DIVISION I MEN – Jaydon Hibbert, Arkansas
Freshman | Jumps | Kingston, Jamaica
Jaydon Hibbert is only 18-years old.
Remember that as you continue reading.
Hibbert demolished the World U20 record as well as the collegiate outdoor record in the triple jump this past weekend at the SEC Outdoor Championships when he bounded a wind-legal 17.87m (58-7½) on his second attempt. That added nearly one foot to the previous collegiate record of 17.57m (57-7¾), set by Keith Connor of SMU back in 1982.
The Arkansas star is now the undisputed King of Triple Jumping in collegiate history. Hibbert shattered the collegiate indoor record in a winning effort at the NCAA Indoor Championships back in March and now added the outdoor version to his ever-growing collection.
Remember: Jaydon Hibbert is only 18-years old.
This is the first time in program history that a male athlete from Arkansas has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season.
NCAA DIVISION I MEN – Britton Wilson, Arkansas
Junior | Sprints/Hurdles | Henrico, Virginia
Britton Wilson did it again.
You should know what “again” means by now.
Wilson dazzled at the SEC Outdoor Championships, twice bettering her own collegiate record in the 400 meters and notching an all-time top-5 performance in the 400-meter hurdles. They say “What’s understood doesn’t need to be said,” but Wilson dominated both of those races in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and completed the 400-400H double for the second year in a row.
The Arkansas phenom opened her weekend with a casual 53.76 effort in the prelims of the 400H to be the top qualifier by nearly two seconds. Then, Wilson returned to the track the following day and ripped one lap in 49.40 to obliterate her previous personal best of 49.51 and set an outright collegiate record in the process. Wilson wasn’t done there – not by a long shot.
Under the bright lights of the final day of competition, Wilson starred. Wilson went 49.13 in the 400-meter final to become the 17th fastest woman in world history and the fourth-fastest in U.S. history. Then, Wilson rolled to a 53.28 victory in the 400H for the fourth-fastest performance in collegiate history and won by nearly two seconds once again.
This is the second time this season that Wilson has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week. Wilson shared national weekly honors with Julien Alfred of Texas back on April 18.
NCAA DIVISION II MEN – Quinton Sansing, West Texas A&M
Grad Student | Sprints | Floresville, Texas
Quinton Sansing hit his stride at the right time.
Just two weeks before the NCAA DII Outdoor Championships, Sansing clocked a division-leading mark over 400 meters this past weekend at the WT Last Chance Meet. Sansing turned one lap in 45.54, which was also the fastest mark by an NCAA DII athlete since 2018.
If Sansing finds the same speed – or goes even faster – in two weeks, he’ll most likely improve upon his third-place finish at the NCAA DII Outdoor Championships last year.
This is the second time this season that a male athlete from West Texas A&M has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week. Sansing joins teammate Isaac Bostio in that regard.
NCAA DIVISION II WOMEN – Divonne Franklin, California (Pa.)
Senior | Sprints | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Divonne Franklin just keeps getting faster.
Franklin, who competed at the PSAC Outdoor Championships this past weekend, won both the 100 meters and 200 meters in meet-record efforts of 11.28 and 22.65, respectively. If that mark in the 200 looks fast, it’s because it should: Franklin moved up to No. 2 in NCAA DII history.
Following the completion of the meet, Franklin was named Most Outstanding Track Athlete of the Meet for the second time in her career. That is the fifth time that Franklin has taken home an award like that from the PSAC and she holds the record for most conference titles in program history (15, with 12 of those coming via individual events).
Franklin is the first NCAA DII female athlete in award history to be named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week in consecutive weeks.
NCAA DIVISION III MEN – Cade Gray, Ripon
Sophomore | Horizontal & Vertical Jumps | Ocklawaha, Florida
Cade Gray wouldn’t be denied this past weekend.
Gray, competing at the Midwest Conference Outdoor Championships, scored 38.5 points to lead Ripon College to its second team title in a row. He amassed 36 points in field events alone with victories in both the long jump and pole vault, as well as a runner-up finish in the triple jump. At the start of the final day, Gray also anchored the Red Hawks to victory in the 4×100 relay.
Along with his staggering point total, Gray ascended to the top spot on the NCAA DIII seasonal Descending Order List in the pole vault and soared to No. 2 in the long jump to give Ripon the top-2 jumpers in the nation in that event. Gray cleared 5.16m (16-11) in the former and flew 7.63m (25-0½) in the latter for those marks.
This is the first time in program history that an athlete from Ripon has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season.
NCAA DIVISION III WOMEN – Michelle Kwafo, Coast Guard
Senior | Sprints | Ewing, New Jersey
Michelle Kwafo is making it look easy.
Kwafo continued her undefeated season and collected her seventh and eighth individual titles of the postseason this past weekend at the NEICAAA Outdoor Championships in Dedham, Massachusetts, winning both the 100 meters and 100-meter hurdles. The Coast Guard star also established wind-legal personal bests in each event: 11.67 in the former, which made her the fourth-fastest performer in NCAA DIII history; and 13.99 in the latter.
Let’s go ahead and add up those titles for you: 100, 200 and 100H at the NEWMAC Outdoor Championships three weeks ago; 100, 200 and 100H at the New England DIII Outdoor Championships two weeks ago; and 100 and 100H at the NEICAAA Outdoor Championships.
This is the first time in program history that an athlete from USCGA has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season.
NAIA MEN – Davonte Vanterpool, Southeastern (Fla.)
Senior | Hurdles | Umatilla, Florida
Davonte Vanterpool lined up twice in the 110-meter hurdles at the PURE Athletics Sprint Elite Meet.
He crossed the finish line first both times, first with a wind-aided 13.74 in the prelims. The wind settled down to record-legal purposes for the final and Vanterpool delivered with a PR 13.73 that is the fastest-known in NAIA history.
Vanterpool also avenged a loss to teammate Darion Carter, who had beat him at the Sun Conference Outdoor Championships three weeks earlier in a 13.99 to 14.05 duel.
This is the first time that a male athlete from Southeastern (Fla.) has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season.
NAIA WOMEN – Hannah Antkoviak, Olivet Nazarene (Ill.)
Sophomore | Hurdles | Allegan, Michigan
Hannah Antkoviak won two events at the St. Francis Fighting Chance Invitational, both times adding to her reputation as one of the nation’s top hurdlers.
Antkoviak won the 100-meter hurdles in a PR 13.55, moving to No. 4 on the yearly NAIA list and landed at No. 6 on the NAIA all-time chart. Just over an hour later she was first across the finish line of the 400 hurdles in 57.98 – the fourth-fastest mark in NAIA history (she owns the fastest at 56.97 from two weeks ago).
This is the first time that an athlete from Olivet Nazarene has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season.