May 12, 2025
National Athlete of the Week is an award selected and presented by the USTFCCCA Communications Staff at the beginning of each week to multiple collegiate Track and Field athletes, when applicable (male and female for each of the three NCAA divisions, the National Junior College divisions, and the NAIA).
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 – Fouad Messaoudi, Oklahoma State
Senior | Mid-Distance | Oujda, Morocco
Breaking a facility record at John McDonnell Field is no small feat.
Toppling one that has been owned by Joe Falcon since 1988 is even more impressive.
Fouad Messaoudi turned 1500 meters in 3:34.34 this past weekend at the Arkansas Twilight to knock Falcon off his perch and clock the tenth fastest performance in collegiate history. Messaoudi held a slim lead going into the final lap and closed with a 55.70-second vengeance to win the section by nearly two seconds.
This is the first time in program history that a male athlete from Oklahoma State has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season.
NCAA DIVISION I WOMEN – Georgina Scoot, Princeton
Junior | Jumps | Maypool, United Kingdom
The Ivy League Outdoor Track & Field Championships are historic in their own right.
Georgina Scoot made sure the 2025 would be one for the record books.
Scoot swept the horizontal jumps and shattered long-standing meet records in the process this past weekend. On Saturday, Scoot soared 6.51m (21-4¼) in the long jump to eclipse a 17-year-old best. Then on Sunday, Scoot bounded 13.36m (43-10) to take down a record that had stood since 1990 when Army West Point competed in the conference.
Could it get any sweeter? Well, yes. Scoot helped Princeton win its first team title since 2011.
This is the first time in program history that an athlete from Princeton has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season.
NCAA DIVISION II MEN – Dapriest Hogans, Pittsburg State
Senior | Sprints | Opelousas, Louisiana
Few athletes in NCAA DII history have seen 20.36 or faster flash on the scoreboard after they finish an outdoor 200-meter race.
In fact, Dapriest Hogans of Pittsburg State became just the seventh man in NCAA DII history to run a wind-legal 20.36 or faster when he clocked that exact time this past weekend at the Arkansas Twilight.
And just a handful of collegiate athletes have turned in that mark this season: Hogans is currently tied at No. 10 on the All-College Descending Order List in 2025.
Earlier in the season, Hogans went 20.13 at the Emporia State Relays, but he had a 3.3 m/s wind at his back. There was no mistaking his time this occasion, a legitimate mark through and through.
This marks the second time a male athlete from Pittsburg State has been named M-F National Athlete of the Week this outdoor season. Hogans joins Caleb Calvin who recorded the honors on March 31, 2025.
NCAA DIVISION II WOMEN – Erika Beistle, Grand Valley State
Senior | Throws | Rodney, Michigan
Erika Beistle is one of the best discus throwers that NCAA DII has ever seen.
This weekend, she added to her legacy.
Competing at the Len Paddock Open on Friday and the GVSU Last Chance Meet on Sunday, Beistle recorded the No. 3, No. 4 and No. 6 all-time marks, heaving the platter 65.02m (213-4), 63.74m (209-1) and 62.90m (206-4), respectively.
Beistle’s tear began at the start of the 2025 outdoor season when she set the NCAA DII record of 66.63m (218-7). Since then she’s racked-up the top-six marks in NCAA DII history. At this point, her eyes have to be set on retaining the national title in Pueblo, Colorado, a potential walk in the park for someone that finished fourth at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials.
This marks the second time that Beistle has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season. Beistle previously earned national weekly honors on April 7, 2025.
NCAA DIVISION III MEN – Kevin Arthur, Saint John’s (Minn.)
Senior | Sprints | Champlin, Minnesota
What’s better than one four-peat? Two.
Kevin Arthur made history at the MIAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships this past weekend when he completed the 100-200 sweep for the fourth consecutive year. He broke a six-year-old program record in the 100 when he ran 10.19 and registered a season-best 20.81 in the 200.
Arthur started the final day of the championship off with a leg on the title-winning 4×100 relay.
This is the first time in program history that an athlete from Saint John’s (Minn.) has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season.
NCAA DIVISION III WOMEN – Megan Geraets, Gustavus Adolphus
Senior | Sprints/Jumps | Mankato, Minnesota
Megan Geraets did it all at the MIAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
Geraets won three individual titles and assisted on a runner-up relay squad to amass 32 points and propel Gustavus Adolphus to the team title. The senior standout topped the podium in the 200 meters, 400 meters, and long jump, with her most notable result coming in the one-lapper where she clocked PR 53.87 to surge to the top of the seasonal Descending Order List.
This is the first time in program history that an athlete from Gustavus Adolphus has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season.
co-NAIA MEN – Evert Silva, Oklahoma City
Junior | Distances | Fresno, California
Evert Silva added his name to the NAIA record book once again.
This time Silva broke one of his own records, lowering the 1500-meter mark with his 3:39.03 at the Arkansas Twilight on Friday. His previous record of 3:39.87 was set at the same meet last year.
It’s the second NAIA record this season for Silva, who claimed the 5000-meter standard at 13:27.76 at the Brian Clay Invitational in April, where he doubled back a day later to scare the 1500 mark with a time of 3:40.21.
This is the third time that an athlete from Oklahoma City has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season. Silva himself was honored earlier this year as well as once last year.
co-NAIA MEN – Zach Turner, Doane (Neb.)
Senior | Hurdles | Crete, Nebraska
It took three weeks but Zach Turner now has the NAIA record in the 110-meter hurdles all to himself.
Three weeks after tying the NAIA record of 13.72 at the Jim Dutcher Classic in April, Turner skimmed over the barriers in 13.52 at Friday’s Concordia (Neb.) Twilight meet to chop two tenths of a second off that mark with his victory by more than half a second. The wind reading was legal at +1.1 m/s.
That gives Turner the NAIA record in two events, as last week he joined the sub-50 400 hurdle club with his 49.99 victory at the Great Plains Athletic Conference (GPAC) Outdoor Championships.
This is the fourth time that an athlete from Doane has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season as Turner himself was honored three times earlier this year.
NAIA WOMEN – Margherita Conrad, Siena Heights (Mich.)
Junior | Pole Vault | Galena, Ohio
The NAIA pole vault record is back in the possession of Margherita Conrad.
Conrad had set the record in April’s Davenport Invitational at 4.17m (13-8¼) only to see it be broken a week later by British Columbia’s Sonya Urbanowicz at 4.20m (13-9¼).
Conrad reclaimed the record at Michigan’s Len Paddock Open on Friday, clearing 4.22m (13-10) on her second attempt. She was unsuccessful at a further raising, missing three times at 4.27m (14-0).
Conrad has surpassed 4 meters (13-1½) in five meets this spring after beginning the year with a best of 3.95m (12-11½).
This is the first time in program history that an athlete from Siena Heights has been named M-F Athletic National Athlete of the Week during the outdoor season.