M-F Athletic National Athletes of the Week (February 20, 2024)
NEW ORLEANS – National champions.
Collegiate records and all-time marks.
Here are the M-F Athletic National Athletes of the Week in collegiate track & field for February 20, 2024.
- NCAA Division I Men – Johnny Brackins Jr., Southern California
- NCAA Division I Women – Washington DMR
- NCAA Division II Men – GVSU High Jump #EventSquad
- NCAA Division II Women –Tiffany Hughey, Northwest Missouri
- NCAA Division III Men – Sam Blaskowski, UW-La Crosse
- NCAA Division III Women – Emma Kelley, WashU
- NAIA Men – Luca Santorum, Cumberlands (Ky.)
- NAIA Women – Jamaya Warthen, Indiana Tech
- NJCAA Men – Zion Campbell, Iowa Central CC
- NJCAA Women – Rushana Dwyer, South Plains (Texas)
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 – Johnny Brackins Jr., Southern California
Junior | Jumps
Kansas City, Missouri
The last jump was the best jump for Johnny Brackins Jr. this past weekend at the USATF Indoor Championships in Albuquerque, New Mexico – sent him into rarefied air.
Brackins spanned 8.23m (27-0) on his sixth and final attempt of the meet and soared ahead of the other competitors. His near three-inch PR allowed the Southern California standout to become just the fourth collegian to win the U.S. title since 2000. Brackins joined Savanta Stringfellow (2000), Miguel Pate (2002) and Jordan Downs (2019) in that regard (To wit: Pate’s winning mark of 8.59m (28-2¼) is the current collegiate record).
This is the first time in program history that an athlete from Southern California has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the indoor season.
NCAA DIVISION I WOMEN – Washington DMR
DMR Weekend lived up to the hype.
And so did Washington’s foursome.
The Huskies entered the weekend as the collegiate record holders in the distance medley relay and left the weekend as the collegiate record holders in the distance medley relay.
Washington lowered its own all-time best by 3.23 seconds as Chloe Foerster (1200), Anna Terrell (400), Marlena Preigh (800) and Carley Thomas (1600) got the baton around in 10:43.39. Foerster led off at 3:15.29, followed by 54.74 for Terrell and 2:03.34 for Preigh, before Thomas anchored in 4:30.02.
The Huskies led a trio of squads under the former collegiate record of 10:46.62: Providence finished second in 10:44.07; BYU finished third in 10:44.67. Stanford was nearly three seconds back of the Cougars, but still became the fourth-fastest program in collegiate history.
This is the second year in a row that Washington’s DMR has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the indoor season.
NCAA DIVISION II MEN – High Jump #EventSquad, Grand Valley State
Utter dominance. The phrase that should be used to describe the 2024 Grand Valley State men’s high jump #EventSquad.
To cap off an already extraordinary season, the trio of jumpers, which features Eli Kosiba (Rensselaer, Indiana), Jaivon Harrison (Cleveland, Ohio), and Jonathan Rankins-James (Racine, Wisconsin), placed fourth, fifth, and 11th at the USATF Indoor National Championships. Nonetheless, it was the heights that they cleared which raised eyebrows.
Both Kosiba and Harrison reached 2.22m (7-3½), while Rankins-James followed closely behind at 2.17m (7-1½). The latter recorded a 2.22m (7-3½) mark himself back on December 8, meaning that the three teammates are now tied for third place… in the entire NCAA. To add to the accolade, the Lakers are the only men’s team in Division II to have three athletes in the top-five slots of a single event nationally.
This is the second time in program history that a group of athletes from Grand Valley State were recognized together as M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week. On February 16, 2021 the honor was awarded to Grand Valley State’s DMR squad.
NCAA DIVISION II WOMEN – Tiffany Hughey, Northwest Missouri
Senior | Sprints
Lee’s Summit, Missouri
Tiffany Hughey is proof that hard work and dedication can lead to remarkable things in this sport.
Hailing from Lee’s Summit, Missouri, the senior got the chance of a lifetime when she qualified for the USATF Indoor Championships. Making sure to leave it all out on the track, Hughey sprinted to the line in 53.27 in the prelims of the 400 meters, missing out on the final by just two spots.
As the story goes, this mark didn’t come easy to Hughey. Just a few years prior the Bearcats’ times were hovering around the 56-57 second range. But with a few tweaks the numbers began to drop, and as of late, they took flight. This most recent one is over half a second faster than anyone else in Division II and it rocketed Hughey to 11th place in the record books.
This is the first time in program history that an athlete from Northwest Missouri has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the Indoor Track and Field season.
NCAA DIVISION III MEN – Sam Blaskowski, UW-La Crosse
Junior | Sprints
Oshkosh, Wisconsin
Sam Blaskowski doesn’t back down from a challenge.
Blaskowski went up against the Who’s Who of the sprinting world in the 60 meters at the USATF Indoor Championships this past weekend in Albuquerque, New Mexico. And while Blaskowski missed the final by 0.03 seconds, he left his mark – an all-time mark.
The UW-La Crosse standout stopped the clock at 6.65 to equal his own second-fastest performance in NCAA DIII history. Just two weeks earlier, Blaskowski lowered the NCAA DIII record to 6.64, which is also his PR. Blaskowski has made quick of the all-time chart in the past two years, amassing nine of the top-10 marks on the list.
This is the second time this season – and seventh time in his career – that Blaskowski has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the indoor season.
NCAA DIVISION III WOMEN – Emma Kelley, Washington (Mo.)
Senior | Mid-Distance
St. Louis, Missouri
Emma Kelley is now a two-event national leader.
Already first nationally in the 800 meters at a converted 2:05.34 from mid-January, Kelley dropped a converted 400-meter time of 55.29 at the Illinois College Hilltop Invitational that shot her to the top of that chart. Kelley won her section by more than two seconds.
This is the second time this season – and the third time in her career – that Kelley has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the indoor season.
NAIA MEN – Luca Santorum, Cumberlands (Ky.)
Freshman | Mid-Distances
Italy
Luca Santorum earned two awards at the Mid-South Conference Indoor Championships – Freshman of the Year and Athlete of the Year – as the Patriots claimed their first team title since 2020.
Santorum contributed 21.5 points in the span of about 2.5 hours. First up was the mile, where a slow pace played right into the hands of Santorum, who had run a 4:01.33 PR a week earlier. He won here by 1.24 seconds in 4:22.68, leading a 1-2-4-5 blanket by Cumberlands.
He followed up with a gem an hour later, sizzling the 1000 meters to a time of 2:23.87 – an NAIA all-time best – in winning by 2.87 seconds. He closed his day by leading Cumberlands’ third-place 4×800 team (8:14.05).
This is the first time that a male athlete from Cumberlands has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the indoor season.
NAIA WOMEN – Jamaya Warthen, Indiana Tech
Junior | Sprints
Palmetto, Georgia
Jamaya Warthen led her Indiana Tech team to its 13th team title in the last 14 years at the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference Championships
Warthen swept the 60 and 200 meters, continuing a string of wins since her last loss in early December. In the 60 she sped a 7.35 in the prelims on Friday that put her in a tie for the NAIA lead with Praise Idamadudu of Cumberland (Tenn.). That tie lasted less than 24 hours as Warthen shaved a hundredth off in the final with a 7.34.
Warthen was up against the nation’s fastest in the 200 in teammate Soyinne Grenyion, who had clocked 23.80 on an oversized track earlier in the year. Starting from lane 6 on the 200-meter flat track at Aquinas (Mich.), Warthen churned to victory in 24.24 in leading a 1-2-3 Indiana Tech sweep. Warthen shared Athlete of the Meet honors with Grenyion.
This is the third time that a female athlete from Indiana Tech has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the indoor season. Warthen joins Grenyion (earlier this year) and Juanita Webster-Freeman (2023) in that regard.
NJCAA MEN – Zion Campbell, Iowa Central CC
Sophomore | Sprints
Freeport, Bahamas
The 60-meter final was a must-see event at the NJCAA Region 11 Championships, which doubles as the Iowa Community College Athletic Conference Championships.
Zion Campbell was the reigning champ but he was behind rival Traunard Folson of Indian Hills on the seasonal list, 6.63 to 6.64. Folson was also the faster heat winner, 6.70 to 6.73.
The final lived up to expectations as Campbell won in a PR 6.60 over Folson’s 6.64. Campbell’s time also tied him for the fastest of the year among NJCAA athletes. He came back to finish second in the 200 in a time of 21.80 on the flat track at Buena Vista. Conversions for NJCAA qualifying purposes equate that performance to 21.42, faster than his seasonal best of 21.49 earlier in the season.
This is the fifth time that a male athlete from Iowa Central CC has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the indoor season. Campbell joins Martin Lamou (2022), Courtney Lindsey (2020), Malik Beverly (2018) and Sterling Mungro (2017) in that regard.
NJCAA WOMEN – Rushana Dwyer, South Plains (Texas)
Sophomore | Mid-Distances
Jamaica
Rushana Dwyer wanted to make her first 800 race of the year a fast one, perhaps approaching her outdoor best of 2:09.89 from last year.
She found that race at the Arkansas Qualifier, taking the lead on the third lap in clocking a time of 2:09.46 that places her No. 6 on the all-time NJCAA indoor list.
Dwyer wasn’t done. The Texans were looking for a fast 4×400 also, and they got it with a time of 3:42.65 in finishing second against three NCAA DI programs. Dwyer was the team’s fastest, splitting 54.21 on the second leg, as South Plains now rates No. 2 on the NJCAA seasonal list.
This is the ninth time that female athletes from South Plains have been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the indoor season. Dwyer joins Joniar Thomas (2021), Onaara Obamuwagun (2020), Gladys Jemaiyo (2019 and 2020), Natasha McDonald (2017), Chrisann Gordon (2015), Morgan Hartsell (2015) and the 2015 4×400 team in that regard.