INDIANAPOLIS- The Great Midwest Athletes of the week for February 12th, 2024 are based on student-athlete performance from February 5th, 2024- February 12th, 2024.
 
Men’s Basketball
Aaron Badibo / Malone University / Sr. / Guard / London, England
Malone’s Aaron Babido had a huge week for the Pioneers, leading the team to a 2-0 week. Against Ohio Dominican, he scored 24 points and grabbed 18 rebounds. He then went on to add 18 points and 11 rebounds in a 74-72 win over Findlay. Babido was also credited with the buzzer-beater layup to solidify the win against the Oilers. On the week, Babido posted a stat line of 21.00 points and 14.5 rebounds.
 
Women’s Basketball
Keeley Carter / Trevecca Nazarene University / Sr. / Guard / Lafayette, Tenn.
Keeley Carter has won athlete of the week honors for the third straight week. Carter nearly posted a triple double on the week with 23 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 6.5 assists. In a win over Thomas More, she poured in 28 points, grabbed seven rebounds, and dished out eight assists. The Lafayette, Tennessee native then went on to record a double-double against Cedarville with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Carter leads the G-MAC in scoring with 20.2 points per game.
 
Men’s Lacrosse
Defensive:
Mark Strunk / Seton Hill University / Jr. /Faceoffs/ Stroudsburg, PA
Mark Strunk of Seton Hill University came up big for the Griffins in their first win of the season over Molly. Strunk won 15 of 24 faceoffs, including the final faceoff to set up the game-winning goal for Seton Hill. He also picked up six ground balls on the day.
 
Offensive:
Zac Smargiasso / Malone University / So. / Midfield/ Copley, Ohio
Zac Smargiasso helped lead the Pioneers to a 2-0 start in their 2024 campaign. He scored a combined seven goals and added four assists in wins against SCAD and Shorter University. The sophomore midfielder came up clutch in the fourth quarter of both games as he scored three goals and had an assist in the final frames to seal the victories for Malone.
 
Men’s Tennis
Ruben Fonga / Tiffin University / Gr./ Nantes, France
Ruben Fonga has earned player of the week honors for the second consecutive week. He went 4-0 at No. 1 singles while also adding two wins in doubles matches. Fonga remains undefeated in both singles and doubles at 5-0.
 
Women’s Tennis
Anamarija Kovacevic / University of Findlay/ So. / Belgrade, Serbia
Findlay’s Anamarija Kovacevic led the Oilers to an unbeaten weekend with wins over Ferris State and No. 18 Grand Valley State. She went undefeated, winning twice at No. 1 singles and twice at No. 3 doubles.
 
Men’s Indoor Field
Ben Haas / Hillsdale College / So. / Throws / Clarkston, Mich.
Haas won the elite division in the weight throw at the GVSU Big Meet over the weekend. He registered a throw of 21.41 meters and followed up with another first-place finish at Tiffin with a 20.71 meter mark. He currently holds the top four throws for the weight throw in the conference this season and remains at No. 3 in Division II this season.
 
Men’s Indoor Track
Blake Vier / Northwood University / So. / Sprints / Royal Oak, Mich.
Northwood’s Blake Vier broke the 8-second barrier in the 60m hurdles over the weekend. Vier recorded a provisional mark of 7.97 seconds and sits at No. 19 in the country for the event. He is only the third athlete in school history to run a sub-8 60m hurdle race.
 
Women’s Indoor Field
Katherine Weldy / Hillsdale College / Sr. / Throws / Brownsburg, Ind.
Katherin Weldy had the best weight throw mark by a G-MAC athlete at the Tiffin Open with a personal best mark of 18.39 meters, moving her up to 15^th in D2. She then went on to place seventh at GVSU with a mark of 17.53 meters.
 
Women’s Indoor Track
Jordan Taylor / University of Findlay / Sr. / Sprints / Loudonville, Ohio
Findlay’s Jordan Taylor shattered Findlay’s program record in the 200 with a time of 24.35. She was also a member of a 4x400 relay team that also set a school record with a time of 3:45.30.
 
STUNT
Alyssa McClaughlin / Ashland University / Jr. / Kenton, Ohio
The tumbler/flyer led the No. 6 Eagles to a 17-1 conference win over Walsh. McLaughlin registered a game-high 36 points in the victory.
 
Wrestling
Daniel Beemer / Ashland University / Gr. / 184 lbs. / Ottawa, Ohio
Bemmer led Ashland to three wins over the weekend including a 38-6 win at Notre Dame, 24-22 win over No. 11 GVSU, and 35-4 win over No. 23 Glenville State. The graduate student recorded two pins and a tech fall to remain undefeated at 11-0 in the 184 lbs. weight class.