CLEVELAND, Ohio – The Mid-American Conference announced today its Scholar Athletes of the Week. Bowling Green junior Rachael Hoover (cross country) and Toledo senior Joad Martinho (cross country) earned the male and female honors, respectively, for their performances in the previous week.

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 per week in any of that current season's sports. The winners are selected by a representative of the MAC's Faculty Athletics Representatives (FARs).

FEMALE WINNER
Institution: Bowling Green
Name: Rachael Hoover
Sport: Cross Country
Year: Junior
GPA: 4.000
Major: Exercise Science
Week’s Achievements: Last Friday, Rachael Hoover led Bowling Green to a third-place finish at the MAC Championship and set new benchmarks for the program. The junior's 20:14.9 6K was a new school record and notched her a seventh-place individual finish. That mark also earned her First Team All-MAC Honors for the first time in her career.

MALE WINNER
Institution: University of Toledo
Name: Joad Martinho
Sport: Cross Country
Year: Senior
GPA: 3.285
Major: Operations & Supply Chain Management
Week’s Achievements (detailed description of week’s events): Senior Joad Martinho helped Toledo win its third consecutive Mid-American Conference Championship on Friday by finishing in second place with a time of 23:26.3 in the 8K race. He finished less than six seconds behind teammate Patrick Kiprop, who became the fourth straight Rocket to capture the individual title. Martinho won the individual title in 2025, and his performance played a key role in Toledo setting a conference record with its 21 points being the fewest registered in a 10-team field.