KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Mules baseball's Brennen van Breusegen and Jennies track & field's Kayla Goodwin have been named finalists for the 2024 MIAA Ken B. Jones Award, presented by Summit Pointe Financial Group, it was announced Tuesday, May 21. 

The Ken B. Jones Award recognizes the league's top female and male student-athletes from the academic year. Named after former MIAA Commissioner Ken B. Jones, this will be the 31st year of the award.

A redshirt junior from Hamilton, New Zealand, Goodwin collected a pair of All-America honors at the 2024 NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field National Championships as the national runner-up in the pentathlon and placed eighth in the triple jump. She was crowned a two-time MIAA individual champion after winning the pentathlon at the Association's 2024 Indoor Championships and the heptathlon at the 2024 Outdoor Championships. She earned five All-MIAA honors total in the 2023-24 seasons, also placing third in the triple jump and the 4x400-meter relay at the indoor championships and third in the long jump at the outdoor championships. She was also honored as Central Missouri's 2023-24 Dr. Peppy Martin Senior Female Athlete of the Year. Goodwin enters the 2024 NCAA Division II Track & Field National Championships (May 23-25) with the nation's 11th-best heptathlon point total and the 15th-best triple jump mark.

Academically, Goodwin owned a perfect 4.0 grade point average while pursuing a degree in kinesiology. She was recently named the university's Outstanding Kinesiology Student in Exercise Science for the 2023-24 academic year. She's a two-time Academic All-American by the College Sports Communicators (CSC) and is an MIAA Scholar-Athlete and an Academic Excellence award recipient. She's also been named to the Association's Academic Honor Roll each season. Goodwin is an active member of the UCM Athletics Literacy Team and has volunteered her time at local high school track meets. She also recently completed a 300-hour, unpaid internship with the Western Missouri Medical Cardiac Rehabilitation Center.

A redshirt senior outfielder from Columbia, Ill., van Breusegen was recently honored as the 2023-24 Central Missouri Vernon Kennedy Male Athlete of the Year for his dominant baseball season. Van Breusegen was named the 2024 MIAA Player of the Year after helping the Mules clinch their fifth consecutive regular season title. The Mules starting center fielder owns a .380 batting average through 58 games this season. He's compiled a team-best 21 home runs to go along with 69 runs, 76 hits, 13 doubles, five triples, 68 RBI, a .810 slugging percentage, 36 walks, a .478 on-base percentage and 18 stolen bases. Hosting a 2024 NCAA Division II Regional Championship last week, van Breusegen helped the Mules capture the Central Region title and advance to the Super Regional, scheduled for May 24-25 at UCM's Crane Stadium/Tompkins Field in Warrensburg, Mo.
 
In the classroom, van Breusegen completed his bachelor's degree in digital media production and is currently pursuing his master's in business administration with a 3.64 grade point average. He's been named an Academic All-American by the College Sports Communicators (CSC), he's a five-time member on the MIAA's Academic Honor Roll and a two-time MIAA Scholar-Athlete. He's an active member of UCM's SAAC and has volunteered his time helping run youth baseball camps and has assisted in the advertisement display for football games. He's also assisted in the organizing of events at Life Community Church in his hometown of Columbia, Ill. Throughout the 2023-24 academic year, van Breusegen also taught a public speaking class on campus.

Each MIAA institution may nominate one male and one female student-athlete for the annual Ken B. Jones Award. The nominees must be completing at least their junior season of athletics eligibility by June 1 of the academic year and must have at least a 3.25 cumulative grade-point average through the previous full semester term at the certifying member institution. The Ken B. Jones selection committee ranks their top five male and female selections using the following weighted system: 50 percent for the year's athletics accomplishments, 30 percent for the student's career academic accomplishments, and 20 percent for the year's campus/community service.

All ten finalists will be recognized at the 2024 MIAA Awards Celebration on Monday, June 3 at the Kansas City Convention Center's Music Hall in Kansas City, Mo. The female and male Ken B. Jones winners will be announced at the Awards Celebration as well. Individuals interested in attending the 2024 MIAA Awards Celebration can RSVP to the event here.