USTFCCCA Awards
By USTFCCCA Communications, USTFCCCA February 6, 2024   

M-F Athletic National Athletes of the Week (February 6)

NEW ORLEANS – Track and field.

We got them all for you this week.

Here are the M-F Athletic National Athletes of the Week in collegiate track & field for February 6, 2024.

  • NCAA Division I Men – Parker Wolfe, North Carolina
  • NCAA Division I Women – Olivia Markezich, Notre Dame
  • NCAA Division II Men – Peyton Barton, Missouri Southern
  • NCAA Division II Women – Esther Conde-Turpin, Azusa Pacific
  • NCAA Division III Men – Sam Blaskowski & Luke Schroeder, UW-La Crosse
  • NCAA Division III Women – Kelsie Sealock, Bethel (Minn.)
  • NAIA Men – Payton Mauldin, Dordt (Iowa)
  • NAIA Women – Dayana Camilo-Montenegro, Central Methodist (Mo.)
  • NJCAA Men – Iowa Western CC DMR
  • NJCAA Women – N Vanee Anchike, Cloud County (Kan.) CC

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 – Parker Wolfe, North Carolina

Junior | Distance
Denver, Colorado

Very few men in collegiate history ran faster over 3000 meters than Parker Wolfe did this past weekend at the Bruce Lehane Scarlet & White Invitational in Boston.

In fact, only two can claim that: Drew Bosley and Dylan Jacobs. Bosley set the current collegiate record of 7:36.42 last year, while Jacobs came within 0.47 seconds of the all-time best two weeks later.

Wolfe traversed 15 laps of the fast track in Boston in 7:37.41 for the third-fastest performance in collegiate history. That marked a near 11-second PR for the North Carolina standout.

Perhaps more impressive was that Wolfe sang solo for the final 1400 meters. He and pacer George Mills were three seconds clear of the pack at 1600 meters and once Mills stepped off the track, Wolfe extended that lead to as many as six seconds with 400 meters to go.

This is the first time in program history that an athlete from North Carolina has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the indoor season. Wolfe is the first male ACC athlete honored since 2022 The Bowerman winner Trey Cunningham on March 1 of that year.

NCAA DIVISION I WOMEN – Olivia Markezich, Notre Dame

Grad Student | Distance
Woodinville, Washington

Olivia Markezich was already one of the fastest women in collegiate history over 3000 meters.

So Markezich decided to add another all-time mark this past weekend – this time in the mile.

Markezich clocked a collegiate-leading 4:27.76 at the Meyo Invitational, which also happens to be the fastest mark ever recorded on an oversized track in collegiate history. If you combine both the record-legal and all-conditions chart, Markezich sits No. 7 on the all-time collegiate chart.

Earlier in the season, Markezich went 8:40.42 for 3000 meters at the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener. That made Markezich the second-fastest woman in collegiate history behind Katelyn Tuohy at 8:35.20.

This is the first time since 2020 that a female athlete from Notre Dame has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the indoor season.

NCAA DIVISION II MEN – Peyton Barton, Missouri Southern

Senior | Throws
Rocky Comfort, Missouri

Peyton Barton knows how to put on a show. 

The weight thrower out of Missouri Southern saved his best for last at the 2024 Bearcat Invite in Maryville, Missouri, tossing a 22.62m (74-2½) to earn the No. 4 spot on the USTFCCCA all-time Division II list. Barton eased into the day by firing off a few 21 meter heaves to separate himself from the field. With a comfortable lead, the senior then crested into the 22 meter range, lobbing 22.30m (73-2) and 22.02m (72-3). On his sixth and final attempt, with absolutely no pressure, Barton went for it all and it paid off. 

The Lion is no stranger to the all-time top-25 chart, boasting a total of 14 marks, three of which were recorded this year. The upward trend has been going on since the winter of 2022 when a duo of hurls that reached 21.43m (70-3¾) and 21.83m (71-7½) solidified his place in the history books. This weekend proved it’s only gotten better from there on out. 

Barton is the third Missouri Southern male athlete to be named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the Indoor Track and Field this season. Barton joins Vincent Kiprop who laid claim to the title on February 21, 2017 and Jayce Thomas who accomplished the feat on March 1, 2016. 

NCAA DIVISION II WOMEN – Esther Conde-Turpin, Azusa Pacific

Sophomore | Combined Events
Reunion Island, France

If it wasn’t for Cheyenne Nesbitt, Esther Conde-Turpin would hold the NCAA DII record in the pentathlon. 

The French native decided to try her luck across the pond last year at Azusa Pacific and did it ever pay off. Within just 365 days, the sophomore amassed a score of 4281 in the pentathlon at the New Mexico Collegiate Classic, good enough for second all-time in DII. Here’s how the competition played out in order of events: 8.37 seconds in 60-meter hurdles, which put her third on the seasonal chart; 1.73m (5-8) in high jump; 13.63m (44-8¾) in shot put; 5.95m (19-6¼) in long jump; 2:26.21 in 800.

Fans are in for a showdown at the NCAA DII Indoor Championships next month in Pittsburg, Kansas, when Conde-Turpin and Nesbitt collide on the biggest of stages.

Conde-Turpin is the second Azusa Pacific female athlete to be named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the Indoor Track and Field this season. Conde-Turpin joins Jaylah Walker who was awarded the honor on January 25, 2022. 

Co-NCAA DIVISION III MEN – Sam Blaskowski & Luke Schroeder, UW-La Crosse

Have yourselves a weekend, Sam Blaskowski and Luke Schroeder!

The UW-La Crosse tandem etched their names into NCAA DIII history 60 meters at a time this past weekend at the Mark Guthrie Legacy Invitational. Blaskowski prefers to do so without five hurdles in his way, while Schroeder excels over the barriers.

Already the fastest man in NCAA DIII history at 60 meters, Blaskowski added to his legend with two more all-time marks. Blaskowski equaled his NCAA DIII record in the prelims at 6.65 and then established a new chart-topper at 6.64 in the final to win by 0.11 seconds.

Not to be outdone, Schroeder posted the second-fastest mark in NCAA DIII history in the 60-meter hurdles at 7.80. That was 0.05 seconds shy of the current record of 7.75 set by former Salisbury standout and three-time NCAA champion Luke Campbell in 2014.

Schroeder wasn’t done there, though. He went 21.54 in the 200 meters, which converts to a 21.16 and takes over the seasonal divisional lead from Eric Gregory of Gallaudet.

This is the first time in award history that two individual athletes from the same program shared M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week honors during the indoor season.

NCAA DIVISION III WOMEN – Kelsie Sealock, Bethel (Minn.)

Grad Student | Hurdles
Plymouth, Minnesota

Kelsie Sealock made quick work of the 60-meter hurdles.

How quick: 8.51 seconds.

Sealock, competing at the Mark Guthrie Legacy Invitational, equaled the event’s sixth-fastest performer in NCAA DIII history in the final and finished runner-up to an NCAA DI athlete. That was a 0.02-second PR for Sealock, who had previously been ranked ninth in NCAA DIII history.

This is the first time in program history that an athlete from Bethel (Minn.) has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the indoor season.

NAIA MEN – Payton Mauldin, Dordt (Iowa)

Senior | Mid-Distances
George, Iowa

Payton Mauldin kept himself very busy at the Frank Sevigne Invitational, setting NAIA-leading times in two of the three events he contested.

On Friday evening, Mauldin won his section of the 400 meters in 46.99, which is fastest in the NAIA this year by nearly a second and the fourth-best performance in NAIA history on a 200-meter banked track.

He competed twice on Saturday – first with a sixth-place effort in the 800 with a 1:50.95 clocking that is the fastest in the NAIA this year on a non-oversized track and is second only this year on the NAIA lists to his own 1:50.29 from December on an oversized oval.

Some 70 minutes later Mauldin anchored Dordt’s 4×400 team to win its section in 3:16.39 (the Defenders are No. 2 on the seasonal list at 3:15.14).

Combined with his 1:17.51 from December that leads the 600, Mauldin now leads three individual events in the NAIA.

This is the first time that a male or female athlete from Dordt has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the indoor season.

NAIA WOMEN – Dayana Camilo-Montenegro, Central Methodist (Mo.)

Junior | Sprints
Cali, Colombia

Dayana Camilo-Montenegro put herself in elite company at the Northwest Missouri Bearcat Open.

After finishing third in Friday’s 400 meters with a time of 56.90, Camilo-Montenegro won the 600 yards by two seconds on Saturday in 1:22.84 on the flat 300-meter oval. Her 600 time is the best by an NAIA athlete since 2016 and ranks 17th among all collegians on all tracks this season.

Camilo-Montenegro was runner-up in the 600 meters last year at the NAIA Indoor Championships.

This is the first time that a female or male athlete from Central Methodist has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the indoor season.

NJCAA MEN – Iowa Western CC DMR

Iowa Western CC had a truly international squad that took down the NJCAA all-time, all-conditions best in the distance medley relay.

Running in the Northwest Missouri Bearcat Open, the Reivers finished second to the hosts in clocking 9:46.12 on the 300-meter flat oval at the Hughes Fieldhouse. That took more than a second off the 9:47.17 that Iowa Central CC established on a flat 200-meter track in 1993.

The Reivers’ foursome hail from four different nations on four different continents – freshman Flynn Pumpa (1200 meters) of South Brisbane, Austraila; freshman Michael Francois (400 meters) of Grenville, Grenada; sophomore Mohammed Kowa (800 meters) of Al Ain, United Arab Emirates; and freshman Geoffry Ronoh (1600 meters) of Koibatek, Kenya.

This is the second time that male athletes from Iowa Western have been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the indoor season as Ronoh earned the award two weeks ago.

NJCAA WOMEN – N Vanee Anchike, Cloud County (Kan.) CC

Freshman | Mid-Distances
Kumasi, Ghana

N Vanee Anchike made the all-time NJCAA list twice at Nebraska’s Frank Sevigne Invitational.

First came the 5000 meters on Friday, when Anchike finished fourth as the leading JUCO athlete with a time of 17:42.37, placing her No. 18 all-time. Then on Saturday she won her section of the mile, clocking 4:58.04 to move to No. 11 all-time.

Anchike rates No. 2 on the season in both of those events, adding to her list-leading 2:57.73 in the 1000 from last week.

This is the seventh time that a female athlete from Cloud County has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the indoor season. Anchike joins Miracle Thompson (twice in 2023), Mercy Ntia-Obong (twice in 2021), Gabbreil Harris (2018) and Nayoka Clunis (2017) in that regard.