M-F Athletic National Athletes of the Week (Feb. 10, 2025)
NEW ORLEANS — The season keeps getting better.
Here are our M-F Athletic National Athletes of the Week for February 10, 2025.
- NCAA Division I Men – Gary Martin, Virginia
- NCAA Division I Women – Wilma Nielsen, Oregon
- NCAA Division II Men – Northwest Missouri DMR
- NCAA Division II Women – Helen Braybrook, CSU Pueblo
- NCAA Division III Men – Sam Blaskowski, UW-La Crosse
- co-NCAA Division III Women – Alexis Boykin, MIT
- co-NCAA Division III Women – Lauren Jarrett, UW-La Crosse
- NAIA Men – Payton Mauldin, Dordt (Iowa)
- NAIA Women – Hannah Antkoviak, Olivet Nazarene (Ill.)
- NJCAA Men – Iowa Western CC DMR
- co-NJCAA Women – Anita Afrifa, Colby (Kan.) CC
- co-NJCAA Women – Iowa Western CC DMR
Find out more about each of these athletes by scrolling below.
NCAA DIVISION I MEN – Gary Martin, Virginia
Junior | Distance
Westminster, Pennsylvania
Gary Martin didn’t have long to prepare for the toughest test of his collegiate running career to date as a late addition to the Wannamaker Mile at the Millrose Games, but passed with flying colors this past weekend inside the Nike Track & Field Center at The Armory.
Martin stopped the clock in PR 3:48.82 to become the second fastest man in collegiate history behind ACC rival Ethan Strand of North Carlina. The Virginia standout expertly navigated the mile race as he worked his way up to fifth place by the finish after sitting 11th at the half mile.
The Pennsylvanian had familiarity with the Millrose Games. Martin was eighth in the Elite Mile back in 2022 with his 4:05.47 as a high school senior. He got a lot faster – like A LOT faster – in the final outdoor season of his prep career, shattering Jim Ryun’s 57-year-old record for the fastest mile in a U.S. high school race when he ran 3:57.98 at his conference meet.
This is the first time in program history than an athlete from Virginia has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the indoor season.
NCAA DIVISION I WOMEN – Wilma Nielsen, Oregon
Senior | Mid-Distance
Gothenburg, Sweden
How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.
Or, if you’re Wilma Nielsen seemingly taking aim at Katelyn Tuohy’s collegiate record in the mile each time you step on the track, you run 0.11 seconds faster in each race.
Nielsen hung tough in the Wannamaker Mile this past weekend inside the Nike Track & Field Center at The Armory, as she placed ninth in PR 4:25.78 for an 0.11-second improvement on her previous best from two weeks ago and solidly sits third on the all-time chart behind Tuohy (4:24.46) and 2024 The Bowerman finalist Maia Ramsden (4:24.83).
This is the second time this season that Nielsen has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week. Nielsen was previously honored on January 27 after the Dr. Sander Scorcher.
NCAA DIVISION II MEN – Northwest Missouri DMR
Come on down, Northwest Missouri!
The Bearcat DMR – made up of Riley Witt, Logan Arellano, Maxime Touron, and Grant Bradley, registered an NCAA DII-leading DMR of 9:37.78 this past weekend to win the Bearcat Invitational. That mark is also top-10 on the all-time, all-conditions list, which considers track over 200 meters, like the 300-meter oval inside the Hughes Fieldhouse.
The quartet gave their home crowd quite a show, as the mark sits second amongst all collegiate divisions this season behind only NCAA DI Virginia Tech. It’s far and away the best time in NCAA DII through 2025, gapping Western Washington by nine seconds, and ranks as the best time in NCAA DII since 2022.
This marks the first time in program history that male athletes from Northwest Missouri have been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the indoor season.
NCAA DIVISION II WOMEN – Helen Braybrook, CSU Pueblo
Senior | Mid-Distance
Frieston, United Kingdom
There’s no telling when Helen Braybrook will reach her limit.
Two weeks ago at altitude, the senior out of CSU Pueblo clocked the fifth-fastest 800-meter time in NCAA DII history. Down at sea level this past weekend, Braybrook one-upped that effort, clocking 2:03.90 at the Bruce Lehane Scarlet and White Invitational. Saturday’s performance places her third all-time and just one-hundredth of a second behind Berenice Cleyet-Merle of UIndy.
In terms of the national lead, the battle couldn’t be much closer. Braybrook leapfrogged Academy of Art’s Lina Hanich on the Descending Order List: Hanich ran 2:05.41 at the John Thomas Terrier Classic. A swift time in its own right, Hanich also lays claim to a top-5 spot in NCAA DII history. The stars are aligned for a showdown of the ages.
This marks the second time this season that Braybrook has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week. Braybrook previously earned national weekly honors on January 27, 2025.
NCAA DIVISION III MEN – Sam Blaskowski, UW-La Crosse
Senior | Sprints
Oshkosh, Wisconsin
It was just a matter of time.
That time was 6.62 seconds.
Sam Blaskowski better his own NCAA DIII record in the 60 meters this past weekend when he made his debut at the Mark Guthrie Legacy Invitational. Blaskowski eased to a 6.74 in the prelims before he blasted the straight in the final for a 0.02-second all-time improvement.
The UW-La Crosse senior is synonymous with history in the 60 meters. He now holds 12 of the top-14 fastest marks in NCAA DIII history, including each of the top-six – all 6.66 or faster.
This is the eighth time that Blaskowski has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the indoor season. Blaskowski took home national weekly honors twice as a junior in 2024, four times as a sophomore in 2023 and once as a freshman in 2022.
co-NCAA DIVISION III WOMEN – Alexis Boykin, MIT
Senior | Throws
Clayton, Ohio
When you’re an NCAA DIII thrower – like Alexis Boykin – and mentioned in the same sentence as the legendary Robyn Jarocki – like Alexis Boykins is now – you’re in pretty good company.
Boykin launched a massive PR in the weight throw of 20.66m (67-9½) at the Tufts Cupid Challenge to move up to No. 2 in NCAA DIII history behind Jarocki. That was also the best throw by an NCAA DIII athlete since Jarocki set the still-standing record of 20.98m (68-10) back in 2006. Boykin has something Jarocki doesn’t though: three or more all-time top-10 marks in the event – the MIT standout’s throws sits No. 2, No. 5, No. 8 and No. 10.
Just one day earlier, Boykin narrowly missed an absolute PR in the shot put with her 15.42m (50-7¼) heave at the Crimson Elite. Boykin’s PR still stands at 15.44m (50-8) from her winning put at the 2024 NCAA DIII Outdoor Championships in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
This is the second time this season – and fourth time in her career – that Boykin has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week. Boykin was previously honored on January 13 of this year, as well as once on both January 30, 2024, and January 11, 2022.
co-NCAA DIVISION III WOMEN – Lauren Jarrett, UW-La Crosse
Junior | Sprints
La Crosse, Wisconsin
Lauren Jarrett cemented her spot in NCAA DIII history.
Jarrett improved her NCAA DIII record in the 60 meters to 7.34 with her winner this past weekend at the Mark Guthrie Legacy Invitational. That came two weeks after she initially took down Wadeline Jonathas’s all-time division best with two 7.37 efforts at the Pat Healy Classic.
The UW-La Crosse standout’s name now dominates the all-time chart. Jarrett claims six of the top-10 marks in NCAA DIII history, including each of the top-three and three of the next seven.
This is the second time this season that Jarrett has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week. Jarrett was previously honored on January 27.
NAIA MEN – Payton Mauldin, Dordt (Iowa)
Grad Student | Mid-Distances
George, Iowa
Payton Mauldin was untouchable all three times he ran this weekend at Nebraska’s Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational.
In his first race he won the 400 meters on Friday evening, scorching the Bob Devaney track in 46.38 that gave him victory by nearly a full second and bettering the NAIA record of 46.76 set in 2019 by Twayne Crooks of Southern-New Orleans.
Just before noon on Saturday, Mauldin destroyed the 600 field by nearly two seconds, clocking 1:17.23 to move to lower his own NAIA seasonal lead from the 1:17.35 he ran in January.
Less than three hours later he took the baton for the anchor leg of the 4×400 relay and ran a blazing 45.69 split – fastest in the meet by over a second – to bring the Defenders home in 3:13.73 for second place in their section.
This is the second time in his career that Mauldin has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the indoor season.
NAIA WOMEN – Hannah Antkoviak, Olivet Nazarene (Ill.)
Senior | Sprints/Hurdles
Allegan, Michigan
In the span of two hours, Hannah Antkoviak had three performances good enough to earn a pair of awards at the Chicagoland (CCAC) Indoor Championships in Davenport, Iowa – Women’s MVP for scoring the most points (30) and Track Athlete of the Meet for the best all-around performance.
The biggest highlight came in the second of three finals – the 600 meters, an event that she won at last year’s NAIA Indoor Championships. Here she took off to an immediate lead – over three seconds after the first lap of the flat 200 track (26.66).
Her gap grew to nearly seven seconds at the 400 (56.38, a time that would have won that open event’s title by over a second) before crossing the finish in 1:29.49 to win by 9.41 seconds. That time broke the NAIA record of 1:29.77 set by Addy Wiley of Huntington (Ind.) in 2023.
Prior to her record-breaking race, Antkoviak won the 60-meter hurdles for a third-straight year (8.57). She finished off the afternoon with a victory in the 200 (24.99) as she was part of the championship team for the fourth year in a row.
This is the second time in her career that Antkoviak has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the indoor season.
NJCAA MEN – Iowa Western CC DMR
After watching the Iowa Western women’ team race to a fast time, the men’s squad tried to duplicate that achievement at Northwest Missouri’s Bearcat Invitational.
Running in the fast section against four-year programs, the Reivers succeeded, as their 9:45.44 puts them No. 3 on the NJCAA all-time, all-conditions list.
The IWCC quartet came from four different continents as sophomore Flynn Pumpa of South Brisbane, Australia handled the opening 1200-meter leg in an approximate split of 2:58 and handed off to freshman Jordan Edwards of Madisonville, Texas for the 400 leg (47). Ali Benzem, a freshman from Rabat, Morocco, ran the 800 portion (1:52) before handing off to freshman Pierre Carlier of Paris, France for the anchor 1600 (4:06).
This is the fourth time that male athletes from Iowa Western have been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the indoor season. This year’s DMR team joins Yekini Bowen (earlier this year), Geoffrey Ronoh (2024) and the 2024 DMR team in that regard.
co-NJCAA WOMEN – Anita Afrifa, Colby (Kan.) CC
Sophomore | Sprints
Kumasi, Ghana
Anita Afrifa returned to Kansas State’s Cliff Rovelto Indoor Track for the Steve Miller Invitational. She not only kept her unbeaten streak intact at the facility, she just missed tying an NJCAA record.
Unlike the Thane Baker Invitational three weeks earlier, the time schedule for the Miller meet had the 200 meters before the 60, so Afrifa ran it fresh for the first time this year. The result was an eye-opening victory in 23.28 – just 0.01 seconds off the 23.27 NJCAA record set in 2002 by Veronica Campbell of Barton (Kan.) CC.
She came back later in the day for a pair of 60-meter races – the prelims (winning her heat in 7.46) and the final (winning in 7.31, which is just 0.01 off her 7.30 from the Baker meet in January). Her 7.30 is also No. 2 on the all-time NJCAA list (behind Campbell’s 7.26 record).
This is the second time this season that Afrifa has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week.
co-NJCAA WOMEN – Iowa Western CC DMR
For 33 years, the NJCAA’s fastest women’s indoor distance medley relay time had belonged to Barton (Kan.) CC at 11:46.20.
That changed on Friday at Northwest Missouri’s Bearcat Invitational as Iowa Western clocked 11:44.45 on the oversized (300-meter) track in finishing second to the hosts.
The Reivers’ foursome (with approximate splits) consisted of freshman Hafssa Boutrich of Marrakech, Morocco (3:40 for 1200 meters), freshman Serena Grace of Norfolk, England (54 for 400), sophomore Angeline Pondler Estrada of San Jose, Costa Rica (2:15 for 800), and freshman Juliana Sakat of Greater Accra Region, Ghana (4:45 for 1600).
It’s the second NJCAA all-time best in as many weeks for Sakat, who broke the 5000 indoor record with a time of 16:20.80 at the Washburn Open on January 30.
This is the ninth time that female athletes from Iowa Western have been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the indoor season. The DMR team joins Sakat (twice earlier this year), Miracle Ailes (2023), Alliyah McNeil (2022), Hilda Olemomoi (nee Chebet) (2022), Nickisha Price (2022), Traci Brown (2018) and Allanah McCorkle (2015) in that regard.