Ashland Athletics Receives Three Great Midwest Athlete of the Week Awards

Another week, and another set of Athlete of the Week honors coming home to Ashland.

On Monday, April 27, the Ashland University Athletics Department received notice that two teams were recognized for their efforts this past week. On the baseball side, Chris Franks took home Player of the Week honors, while on the men's track and field end, Carter Smith and Jon Lutz were lauded as Field and Track Athletes of the Week.

Franks put together a strong showing against the Hillsdale College Chargers while on the road up north. He finished a four-game series with a 7-for-15 mark from the plate, smacking three doubles to help lead the team to a weekend sweep. With the victories, the Eagles are now 20-8 in conference play and up to a 32-14 overall record. 

Smith and Lutz, while competing in different events, spotlighted the Ashland Alumni Open this past weekend.

Smith put up a 5.25 jump in pole vault, pushing him to eighth in the nation. Lutz, who has been putting together an incredible freshman campaign, ran a 13.91-second 110-meter hurdles, which pushes him to 10th in the nation.
 

2025-26 ASHLAND UNIVERSITY GREAT MIDWEST ATHLETIC CONFERENCE ATHLETES OF THE WEEK

SEPT. 8 – Ravin Morgan (volleyball), Michael Shimek (football), Nate Slater (men's cross country), Tom Woodward (men's soccer). 
SEPT. 15 – none
SEPT. 22 – Dani Hicks (women's soccer), Mark Pillar (men's golf). 
SEPT. 29 – Cameron Blair (football), Damien Johnson Jr. (football).
OCT. 6 – none
OCT. 14 – Jaden Cook (football), Joey Lenczyk (men's swimming and diving), Yasmim Tomita (women's swimming and diving).
OCT. 20 – Emily Pate (women's soccer), Manaki Watanabe (football).
OCT. 27 – Jaya Daniel (women's soccer).
NOV. 3 – Manaki Watanabe (football). 
NOV. 10 – Wyatt Bailey (wrestling), Evan Kemp (men's swimming and diving).
NOV. 17 – none
NOV. 24 – Maceo Williams (men's basketball).
DEC. 1 – Jenna Slates (women's basketball).
DEC. 8 – Cooper Davis (men's basketball), Jon Lutz (men's indoor track), Molly Winner (women's indoor field). 
DEC. 15 – none
DEC. 22 – none
JAN. 5 – none
JAN. 12 – none
JAN. 20 – Jenna Slates (women's basketball).
JAN. 26 – Jade Avance (women's indoor track), Joey Lenczyk (men's swimming and diving).
FEB. 2 - Jade Avance (women's indoor track), Maceo Williams (men's basketball), Molly Winner (women's indoor field).
FEB. 9 – Makiah Francis (STUNT), Maceo Williams (men's basketball).
FEB. 16 – Annie Duncan (women's lacrosse), Brayden Jackson (men's indoor field), Colton Thress (men's indoor track).
FEB. 23 – Makiah Francis (STUNT).
MARCH 2 – none
MARCH 9 – Annie Duncan (women's lacrosse), Makiah Francis (STUNT), Jackson Grine (baseball).
MARCH 16 – none
MARCH 23 - Tori Wanat (women's lacrosse), Drew Becker (baseball), Molly Winner (track and field).
MARCH 30 - none
APRIL 6 - Rachel Crumbacher (women's lacrosse), Molly Winner (track and field).
APRIL 13- Ashley Fisher (women's lacrosse), Annie Duncan (women's lacrosse)
APRIL 20- Drew Becker (baseball), Rachel Crumbacher (women's lacrosse), Jade Avance (track and field)
APRIL 27- Chris Franks (baseball), Jon Lutz (track and field), Carter Smith (track and field)