BRIDGEPORT, W.Va. -  The Mountain East Conference announced Monday the winner of this week’s Men’s & Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Athletes of the Week. The weekly awards are presented by The Health Plan.
 
Davis & Elkins’ Jordan Thomas, Wheeling’s Felix Manayni and Point Park's Jakob Blatnik have been named the MEC Men’s Co-Outdoor Track & Field Athletes of the Week, while Davis & Elkins’s Lauren Twyman and Gelnville State’s Natalie Barr have been named the MEC Co-Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Athletes of the Week.
 
Thomas, a senior from Morgantown, West Virginia, ran a 30:08 10K at the Bucknell Bison Classic. It's currently the fastest time in MEC. It also set a new school record and ranks top-4 in the Atlantic region.
 
Manayni, a sophomore from Zimbabwe, finished second in the Javelin at the Westminster Invitational. He would throw a distance of 58.25 meters, throwing the second-furthest distance in the MEC during the week. He hit the throw on his first attempt of the day and ended up eclipsing the 50-meter mark on three of his six throws on the day.

Blatnik, graduate student from Lijubjana, Slovenia, recorded a distance of 65.10 meters in the javelin on Saturday, good for first place in the event and an NCAA Provisional standard. Blatnik was already the school record holder in the event.
 
Twyman, a senior from Vinton, Virginia, ran a 4:30.75 in the 1500 meter at the Bucknell Bison Classic. Second highest finishing D2 runner in the invite sections running the fastest time in the MEC and Atlantic region currently.
 
Barr, a junior from Canvas, West Virginia, ran in the Invitational 5k at this weekend's Bison Outdoor Classic, finishing 27th out of 97 runners with a school record time of 16:57.87. Barr raced against athletes from the likes of Buffalo, Quinnipiac, Lehigh, Bucknell, Penn State, West Virginia, Yale, Rider, Manhattan, Youngstown State, Cornell, Robert Morris, Detroit Mercy, UMBC, Saint Joseph's, Bryant and Maryland, placing in front of 33 Division I runners.
 
2026 MEC MEN’s OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
3/23: Braden Ward, Concord
3/30: Jordan Thomas, Davis & Elkins
4/6: Akeem Mustapha, Point Park
4/13: Jordan Thomas, Davis & Elkins; Felix Manayni, Wheeling; Jakob Blatnik, Point Park
 
2026 MEC WOMEN’s OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
3/23: Natalie Barr, Glenville State
3/30: Colette Patti, Charleston
4/6: Shekinah Jamison, Frostburg State & Dunya Van den Torren, Point Park
4/13: Lauren Twyman, Davis & Elkins & Natalie Barr, Glenville State