General

Jensen, Olejnik Earn Scholar Athlete of the Week Accolades

The Scholar Athlete of the Week Award is presented to a MAC male and/or female student- athlete who has a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or better and performs well during that week's competition. An institution can nominate up to one male and one female student-athlete perweekinanyofthatcurrentseason'ssports. Thewinnersareselectedbyarepresentativeof the MAC's Faculty Athletics Representatives (FARs).

A student-athlete may only be awarded MAC Scholar Athlete of the Week twice in one season.

MALE WINNER
Institution: Northern Illinois University
Name: Izzak Olejnik
Sport: Wrestling
Year: Senior
GPA: 3.298
Major: Physical Education
Week’s Achievements (detailed description of week’s events):
Izzak Olejnik finished in eighth place at 165 lbs. after going 4-3 at 2023 NCAA Wrestling Championships inside the BOK Center in Tulsa. Olejnik's path to the podium began after falling to the consolation bracket Thursday. In Friday's Blood Round, Olejnik knew he needed three- straight wins to earn podium honors; one loss would send him home. Olejnik plowed his way through No. 22 seeded Tanner Cook (South Dakota State) and No. 20 Holden Heller (Pittsburgh) before upsetting No. 10 Carson Kharchla (Ohio State) to guarantee All-American status. The back-to-back Mid-American conference champion finishes the year with a 31-5 overall mark, including being a perfect 6-0 in MAC duals.


FEMALE WINNER
Institution: Bowling Green State University
Name: Taylor Jensen
Sport: Gymnastics
Year: Senior
GPA: 4.000
Major: Architecture
Week’s Achievements (detailed description of week’s events):
Bowling Green senior Taylor Jensen had a personal record 9.900 on beam to capture a MAC Championship at the 2023 MAC Gymnastics Championship. It was Jensen's first MAC individual championship, and the first by a Falcon in four years (Jovannah East in 2019). Jensen also finished second on vault with a 9.875 and was named to the MAC All-Tournament team following the meet. She helped BGSU to a fifth-place team finish, the Falcons’ best since 2019, and BG’s team score (195.450) was the Falcons’ highest since 2018.