Mid-American Conference

Men’s Track Athlete of the Week
Leon Atkins, Buffalo, 600m
Junior – Auburn, New York/Auburn
Atkins, in his first meet of the 2019 year, smashed the UB School Record and set a new Meet Record at the Wolverine Invite in the Men’s 600m winning by over two full seconds in a time of 1:18.86. This time ranks him #13 in the NCAA, and #1 in the MAC.  
 
Women’s Track Athlete of the Week
Mackenzie Andrews, Akron, 3000m
Senior – Toowoomba, Australia/Fairholme College
Akron senior Mackenzie Andrews opened her 2019 campaign registering a school-record time to capture the 3,000-meter title at the Jim Green Invitational. She ran the race in 9:28.39, the fifth-fastest time in the NCAA this season and shattered the previous school-record time of 9:41.20 set by Brandi Schoeppner in 2006, while also bettering her own PR of 9:44.17 set a year ago.
 
Men’s Field Athlete of the Week
Matt Ludwig, Akron, Pole Vault
Senior – Chardon, Ohio/Lake Catholic
Akron senior Matt Ludwig opened his 2019 campaign registering a victory in the pole vault at the Jim Green Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 12. The four-time first-team All-America honoree eclipsed 18-1.25 (5.52m) to post the third-best mark in the NCAA this season.
 
Women’s Field Athlete of the Week
Lucy Bryan, Akron, Pole Vault
Junior – Bristol, England/Clifton
Akron junior Lucy Bryan opened her 2019 campaign capturing the women's pole vault title at the Jim Green Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 12. Bryan eclipsed 14-1.25 (4.30m), the sixth-best mark in the NCAA this season, en route to winning the event.

 
 
Other Nominees:
Remy Amarteifio, NIU, 60m Hurdles
Junior – Evanston, Illinois/Evanston Township
Remy Amarteifio posted the second-fastest time in the MAC in the 60-meter hurdles with her 8.52 seconds time at Purdue’s Gene Edmonds Invitational. After qualifying for the final in sixth, Amarteifio finished just two one-hundredths of a second behind Amaya Chadwick of Purdue in the final. It was Amarteifio’s fastest time of the season in the 60-meter hurdles.
 
Abena Atuobi, Western Michigan, Shot Put
Sophomore – Waukegan, Illinois/Warren Township
Abena Atuobi was WMU's lone individual event winner at the 2019 Illini Open, taking first in the shot put. Atuobi matched her season-best throw by reaching 46' 5.25" (14.15m). Her 10 points helped the Broncos tie for second place at the meet.
 
Olivia Bechtel, Miami, 400m
Junior – Bay Village, Ohio/Bay
Bechtel led the Miami women with the best individual performance of the meet at Kentucky's Jim Green Invitational, running a 55:53 to take fifth in the 400m. This is the best time recorded by any MAC women's athlete in the 400 so far on the young season.
 
Mi’Angel Daniels, Kent State, 60m Hurdles
Junior – Columbus, Ohio/Gahanna Lincoln
Junior Mi’angel Daniels crossed the finish line in third place with a time of 8.55 in the women’s 60-meter hurdles at the Wolverine Invitational. Her time is a MAC auto mark and is the third best in the conference, 62nd nationally.
 
Erin Dowd, Western Michigan, 60m Hurdle/200m
Junior – Brighton, Michigan/Brighton
Dowd's stellar performance in three events helped Western Michigan rack up 102 points and tie for second place at the 2019 Illini Open. She ran the lead-off leg of the 4x400-meter relay that took first place with a season-best time of 3:51.45 (converted). Dowd also finished runner up in the 200-meter dash, running the seventh-fastest time in MAC so far this season at 24.82 seconds (converted). Dowd capped her meet off by setting a new personal-best and breaking the 9-second barrier for the first time in her career in the 60-meter hurdles, taking third place with a time of 8.89 seconds.
 
Crystal Henderson, Buffalo, Triple Jump
Senior – Middle Island, New York/Longwood
Crystal started off the 2019 Indoor season in the Triple Jump with her 2nd place finish at the Wolverine Invite. Her mark of 12.07m/39’7.25”, is a MAC Automatic qualifying Mark, and ranks #3 in the MAC and #40 in the NCAA. Her leap was just 1cm off her indoor lifetime best.  Crystal also ran a personal best in the 60HH of 8.92.  
 
Kenyae Majors, NIU, Long Jump
Sophomore – Burlington, NC/Hugh Cummings
Kenyae Majors set a new school record in the long jump at Purdue's Gene Edmonds Invitational. Majors recorded a leap of 5.84m (19-02.00) to edge the previous school record of 5.83m (19-01.50) set by Jehvania Whyte at last year's MAC Championships and finish fourth at the Gene Edmonds Invitational. Majors' mark was a MAC Championship automatic qualifier.
 
Alyssa Matheny, Kent State, High Jump
Sophomore – Akron, Ohio/Manchester
Sophomore Alyssa Matheny finished in second place in the high jump at the Wolverine Invitational with a career-high mark of 1.75 meters (5’-08.75”). Narrowly missing the title by less than two inches to a Big Ten competitor, her jump is the best mark in the conference (a MAC auto mark) and 24th best in the NCAA.
 
Sydney Meyers, Eastern Michigan, 5000m
Senior – Zionsville, Indiana/Zionsville Community
Eastern Michigan senior Sydney Meyers (Zionsville, Ind.-Zionsville Community) earned second place in 3000m run in the Green and White's appearance at the Wolverine Invitational, Saturday, Jan. 12. Her finish of 9:29.40 marked not only her career-best run, but also moved her to sixth-best time in program history, while also tabbing the second-best time ran by a Mid-American Conference athlete this season.  Furthermore, her time set at the Wolveirne Invitaitonal was also good for the eighth-fastest national mark in the 2018-19 season.  
 
Marc Migliozzi, Akron, 3000m
R-Sophomore – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania/North Allegheny
Akron redshirt sophomore Marc Migliozzi opened his 2019 campaign registering a third-place finish in the 3,000 meters at the Jim Green Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 12. His time of 8:19.20 was six one-hundredths of a second shy of equaling his career-best indoor mark in the event, which is also the fifth-best mark in indoor program history. The effort leads the MAC and is the 34th-fastest in the NCAA this season.
 
Gaza Odunaiya, Ohio, Weight Throw
Senior – Athens, Ohio/Athens
Gaza returns in the 2019 indoor season with a first-place finish at the Marshall Women's Classic meet this past weekend. Aside from her highest mark this season, Gaza also threw a meet record distance of 18.81 meters shattering the previous record of 17.37 set last season.
 
Devon Patterson, Buffalo, Shot Put
Senior – Williamsville, New York/Williamsville South
Patterson started the indoor campaign with a strong effort in the shot put of 57’1”, placing 4th overall at the Wolverine Invite at the University of Michigan. His mark ranks #2 in the MAC and #51 in the NCAA.  
 
Jazmin Smith, Ball State, 60m Hurdles
Senior – Cincinnati, Ohio/North College Hill
Facing a lot of tough competition, including two of the nation’s top 50 runners entering the day, Jazmin Smith earned a spot in the finals of the 60m hurdles at the Jim Green Invitational hosted by Kentucky with a prelim time of 8.60. She went on to take sixth overall by improving her time in the finals to a season-best effort of 8.50. In addition to being the best January time of her four-year collegiate career, her mark of 8.50 is a Mid-American Conference Indoor Championship automatic qualifying mark and currently leads the league.
 
Newlyn Stephenson, Eastern Michigan, Weight Throw
Sophomore – Gary, Indiana/Thea Bowman Leadership Academy
Eastern Michigan sophomore throws athlete Newlyn Stephenson made his mark in the Eastern Michigan record books with his weight throw performance at the Wolverine Invitational, Saturday, Jan. 12. His throw cleared 19.16m, passing the meet record while also securing the eighth-best throw in program history. His efforts also marked the third-best throw in the conference this season.
 
Tyler Underwood, Eastern Michigan, 300m/60m
Senior – Clinton, Michigan/Clinton
Eastern Michigan senior runner Tyler Underwood was the lone Eagle to earn an event title in the Eagles' performance at the Wolverine Invitational, Saturday, Jan. 12. The Clinton, Mich. native continued his early-season successes with the top finish in the 200m, as his finish of 21.49 seconds set the Wolverine Invitational record for the event. His time in the event additionally topped the conference charts, marking the fastest 200m time by a Mid-American Conference athlete.
 
Kelsey Walters, Ball State, Shot Put
Junior – Troy, Ohio/Troy
Turned in a season-best mark of 13.30m (43-7.75) in the shot put to climb to 10th in the Mid-American Conference.
 
Crystal Washington, Eastern Michigan, Triple Jump
Sophomore – Los Angeles, California/Carson
Eastern Michigan sophomore Crystal Washington (Los Angeles, Calif.-Carson) cleared 12.14m in the triple jump at the Wolverine Invitational, Saturday, Jan. 12. Her efforts earned the Green and White's lone event title of the day. Additionally, her performance tabbed the second-furthest jump this year in the Mid-American Conference, while also ranking in the top-50 in the NCAA.
 
Jake Wickey, Kent State, Weight Throw
Sophomore – Medina, Ohio/Medina
Sophomore Jake Wickey picked up a fourth-place finish in the men’s weight throw at the Wolverine Invitational with a MAC auto mark of 19.24 meters (63’-01.50”). His mark is ranked second in the MAC and 51st nationally.
 
Nadia Williams, Central Michigan, Long Jump
Junior – Mount Horeb, Wisconsin/Mount Horeb
Junior Nadia Williams set a new career and school record in the long jump at the Chippewas Jack Skoog Open this past weekend. The Mount Horeb, Wis., native placed first with a leap of 6.41 meters, shattering the previous mark of 6.09 meters set in 2005 by Tamera Thomas. Williams also took home the top mark in the 60-meter dash (7.63 seconds) and the 200 meter (24.58)
 
Shanice Williams, Toledo, 60m
Senior – Toronto, Canada/Northview Heights
Toledo senior Shanice Williams took second with a time of 7.52 in the 60-meter dash finals at the Wolverine Invitational in Ann Arbor on Saturday. In the preliminary round, Williams captured first in her heat with a qualifying time of 7.49.