KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association announced its male and female finalists for the 2024-25 Ken B. Jones Award, presented by Summit Pointe Financial Group.
 
The MIAA’s 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, the 2024-25 academic year marks the 32nd year of the award.
 
The 2024-25 female finalists are Jenna Karp of Central Oklahoma, Katie DeGarmo (Wagner) of Fort Hays State, Lauren Nylund of Missouri Western, Peyton Neff of Nebraska Kearney and Kareena Gerber of Pittsburg State.
 
The 2024-25 male finalists are Tyler Kahmann of Emporia State, Myles Menges of Fort Hays State, Cody Watson of Missouri Western, Crew Howard of Nebraska Kearney and Mason Strader of Pittsburg State.

Each MIAA institution may nominate one male and one female student-athlete for the annual Ken B. Jones Award. The nominees must have completed at least their junior season of athletic eligibility by June 1 of the academic year and 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 2024-25 Ken B. Jones finalists will be recognized at the 2025 MIAA Awards Celebration on Monday, June 2 at the Nelson Atkins Museum Auditorium in Kansas City, Mo. The Ken B. Jones award winners will also be announced at the Awards Celebration.
 
The MIAA Awards Celebration is open to the public. Individuals interested in attending the event on June 2 can RSVP here. The conference office will be accepting RSVPs until Thursday, May 29.
 
Additional information on each of the 2024-25 Ken B. Jones finalists is listed below. To view past winners and find more information about the Ken B. Jones Award presented by Summit Pointe Financial Group, visit theMIAA.com/KenBJones.

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Jenna Karp – Central Oklahoma Volleyball
Jenna Karp led the Central Oklahoma volleyball team to its best first in program history, going 33-3 in the 2024 season. Karp and the Bronchos won the MIAA Volleyball Championship and the NCAA Division II Central Regional Championship, and advanced to the national quarterfinals – all firsts for the Bronchos. A senior middle blocker from Spring, Texas, Karp received All-America honors from the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) in the 2024 season. She was also a First Team All-MIAA selection after ranking second in the league with a .357 hitting percentage. Karp ended her historic career at UCO as just the sixth player in program history to earn All-MIAA honors in all four seasons. She also ranks fifth on the Bronchos’ all-time solo block records.
 
Off the court, Karp received her bachelor’s degree in biomedical science with an emphasis in forensic molecule biology. Her 3.90 cumulative grade point average made her a four-time member of the MIAA’s Academic Honor Roll. She was also a three-time recipient of the Association’s prestigious Academic Excellence Award. Karp was also an active member of the UCO President’s Leadership Council and the Delta Delta Epsilon Forensic Science Honor Society. She spent time working with UCO’s Student Mobilization Organization and worked as a research assistant in UCO’s biology department. Karp has also been an active volunteer in the community working with the City Care Shelter, Wings Edmond and the Oklahoma City Marathon, and on campus as a UCO Big Event volunteer, UCO Involvement Center volunteer and a UCO pantry volunteer.
 
Katie DeGarmo – Fort Hays State Basketball
Katie DeGarmo, formally Katie Wagner, is the Association’s defending Female Student-Athlete of the Year after winning the Ken B, Jones Award in the 2023-24 academic year. After another exceptional women’s basketball season, DeGarmo was crowned the MIAA Player of the Year in the 2024-25 season, becoming the league’s first back-to-back women’s basketball Player of the Year since 2003-04. She was also named a two-time All-America by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) and the Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA) and earned First Team All-MIAA honors. A fifth-year graduate student from Maize, Kan., DeGarmo led Fort Hays State to a runner-up finish in the MIAA regular season and the MIAA basketball championship. She led the Tigers with 17.2 points and 8.6 rebounds per game and ranked third in the league in both categories. DeGarmo started all 33 games and averaged 31.5 minutes per game while scoring over 450 points for the fourth straight season, finishing the year with 567 total points. She ends her career at Fort Hays State as the program’s leading rebounder (1,248) while ranking second in career scoring (2,299 points), field goals (865), free throws made (512), free throws attempted (661) and steals (236). She also ranks fourth in the Tiger record book with 408 career assists.
 
DeGarmo was one of only 16 women’s basketball players to be named an Academic All-America in the 2024-25 season. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration in accounting in December of 2023, earning magna cum
laude honors with a 3.87 GPA. She now owns a perfect 4.0 GPA as a graduate student, working towards her MBA. DeGarmo is a five-time member of the MIAA’s Academic Honor Roll and a four-time MIAA Scholar-Athlete.
 
DeGarmo completed an accounting/analyst internship at Koch Industries in Wichita, Kansas in the summer of 2023, where she learned and developed new skills through hands-on experience in the accounting profession. She was nominated as the Accounting Student of the Year by the University’s Department of Economics, Finance and Accounting in 2024. She was also nominated and selected by the accounting faculty for a Graduate Teaching Assistantship following her December 2023 graduation. DeGarmo has created a new deferred revenue schedule for the business she supported at Koch Industries, along with conducting balance sheet reconciliations, collaborating with a team on month-end closing procedures, and actively participating in identifying process improvements and cost-saving opportunities.
 
In her free time, DeGarmo serves on the leadership team for Hays’s Encounter Young Adults, a Christian ministry affiliated with Celebration Community Church. She also volunteers for various events and organizations such as Tim Tebow’s Night to Shine and Hays’s Bethesda Place – a residential community for individuals with disabilities. For a second straight year, DeGarmo and the Tigers’ women’s basketball team partnered up with Team IMPACT, which is a non-profit organization that matches children facing serious illnesses and disabilities with college sports teams. She’s also helped instruct and facilitate FHSU’s IDD Sports and Fitness Nights for local Special Olympic athletes.
 
Lauren Nylund – Missouri Western Soccer
Lauren Nylund helped Missouri Western’s women’s soccer team to the program’s best finish in program history. The Griffons advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division II postseason tournament and ended the season with an overall record of 16-3-3. The 5’9” centerback from San Antonio, Texas, was crowned the MIAA Defender of the Year and earned All-America honors in the 2024 season. She started all 22 games and led the Griffons with 1,969 minutes played, sitting out for only just 11 minutes in the entire season. She took 11 shots on goal with five goals on the season, three of which were game-winning scores.
 
Off the pitch, Nylund is a graduate student with a 3.63 GPA while pursuing her bachelor’s degree in psychology with a minor in childhood studies. She’s a three-time member of the MIAA’s Academic Honor Roll and was a first-time recipient of the Association’s Scholar-Athlete award in the 2024 season. Nylund has also volunteered for multiple events on campus and in the community, participating in Food Bank Fridays, Griffs Giving Gifts, Soles for Christ, Earth Day Clean Up and Friendly Faces Fridays. She’s also spent time volunteering at the Noyes Home for Children in St. Joseph.
 
Peyton Neff – Nebraska Kearney Volleyball
Peyton Neff led the Lopers volleyball team to the program’s first MIAA regular season title since 2019, ending the regular season with an impressive league record of 15-1. Nebraska Kearney ended its 2024 season in the first round of the NCAA postseason, posting a final record of 33-3. Neff, a redshirt junior from North Platte, Neb., was crowned the MIAA Setter of the Year after leading the league with 12.4 assists per set, helping the Lopers lead all of Division II in assists per set as a team with 14.1. Neff was also named a First Team All-American by the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA). She was only two Lopers to play all 112 sets in the 2024 season. Along with her dominating 12.4 assists per set, Neff also averaged 2.5 digs, 0.7 blocks, 0.5 kills and 0.2 aces per set. She currently ranks seventh on UNK’s career assists list with 4,049.
 
Off the court, Neff graduated with her bachelor’s degree in psychology in just three years (spring 2024) and began graduate school at the University last fall. She currently has a 4.0 GPA while pursuing her master’s in psychology. Neff was also crowned an Academic All-America in the 2024 season, becoming the program’s fourth-ever CSC All-American. She’s a four-time member of the MIAA Academic Honor Roll, a three-time MIAA Scholar-Athlete and a two-time recipient of the league’s prestigious Academic Excellence Award. She was also honored as UNK’s Psychology Department’s Outstanding Senior in 2024 and was selected to represent UNK as the Psychology Department Ambassador at the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association Conference.
 
Neff is very involved in the volleyball program’s activities on campus, helping with all of the Lopers’ volleyball camps and tournaments like the Junior Lopers (youth volleyball clinics) and UNK’s Loss Sand Volleyball Tournament – a local outreach event for suicide survivors. She’s also volunteered in the community at Kearney’s Trails & Rails Museum and Mosaic Hospital’s Christmas Crafts.
 
Karenna Gerber – Pittsburg State Basketball
Karenna Gerber led the Pittsburg State women’s basketball teams to the program’s third all-time Elite Eight appearance and first trip ever to the NCAA Division II Final Four with a program-best 33-4 overall record. The 6’0” senior forward from Halstead, Kan., garnered First Team All-MIAA honors, was named to the five-member MIAA All-Defensive Team, was selected as Most Outstanding Player of the MIAA’s postseason women’s basketball championship and the NCAA Division II Central Region’s Most Outstanding Player in the 2024-25 season. Gerber scored a Pitt State single-season record with 638 points, leading the Gorillas with 17.2 points per game. She also grabbed a single-season record of 309 total rebounds, also leading the Gorillas with 8.4 rebounds per game. Gerber posted 15 double-doubles in the 2024-25 season to raise her school record for career double-doubles to 36 total. She finishes her career as a Gorilla with 1,822 points (14.1 ppg), 936 rebounds (7.3 rpg) and 189 blocked shots (1.5 bpg) in 129 games (100 starts). She set the program record for career rebounds (936), landed at No. 2 all-time in blocked shots (189) and No. 5 all-time in scoring records.
 
Academically, Gerber became a three-time MIAA Scholar-Athlete and a two-time CSC Academic All-District selection in the 2024-25 season. She’s also a four-time recipient of the MIAA Academic Honor Roll. She will graduate this May with her bachelor’s degree in elementary education with a 3.82 cumulative GPA and has already been hired by Remington (Kan.) Unified School District 206 to become a fifth-grade teacher beginning in the 2025-26 academic year.
 
Gerber was a three-year member of the Gorillas’ Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). She was also a regular volunteer at Guest Home Estates in Pittsburg, fostering relationships with elderly residents the community. She was a four-year volunteer for the Children’s Miracle Network Car Wash Fundraiser, the Lord’s Diner – a non-profit kitchen operated by and for the Pittsburg community – and the Little Balkans Day Quilt Competition – a local fall festival in Pittsburg. Gerber also spent time as a Youth Chaperone for Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church’s summer retreat and was a lector at St. Pius X Catholic Church on Pitt State’s campus. She also found the time to read to local/area youth at Pittsburg’s Lakeside Elementary and at Frontenac Elementary.
 
  Tyler Kahmann – Emporia State Football
Tyler Kahmann was a consensus First Team All-American wide receiver in the 2024 football season. Along with being a unanimous First Team All-MIAA selection, Kahmann earned All-American honors from the Walter Camp Foundation, American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), Division II Conference Commissioners Association (D2CCA), Associated Press and the Don Hansen Football Gazette. He was also named an Elite 100 selection by D2Football.com.
 
Kahmann, a 6’3” receiver from Haysville, Kan., was the only player in any level of college football (Junior College, NAIA, DIII, DII, DI, FCS or FBS) with at least 100 receptions, 20 touchdowns and 1,000 receiving yards. He led the nation in touchdown catches, receptions per game and receiving yards per game. He led the MIAA and ranked fourth in the nation in scoring, set an MIAA single-game record with 296 receiving yards against Nebraska Kearney, and set an MIAA career record with 54 touchdowns in his career. He also set virtually every Emporia State football receiving record with five touchdown catches in a game, 20 touchdowns in a season and 54 in his career. Kahmann was the only MIAA male student-athlete to be named a consensus First Team All-American in their sport and a First Team Academic All-American by the College Sports Communicators (CSC). Kahmann recently signed as a Priority Undrafted Free Agent with the Indianapolis Colts.
 
Off the field, Kahmann graduated Magna Cume Laude with his bachelor’s degree in business in 2023 and just recently graduated with his MBA in May before going to Indianapolis for the Colts’ minicamp. He was named a First Team Academic All-American as a senior in 2024 after earning Second Team honors in 2023. He’s also a three-time MIAA Scholar-Athlete and a four-time member on the Association’s Academic Honor Roll.
 
Also an active student-athlete on campus and in the community, Kahmann volunteered his time with various events and organizations. He assisted with the Kansas Special Olympics Polar Plunge, helped out with the Laps 4 Landon event for Cystic Fibrosis awareness, and helped set up special event testing at Olpe Grade School recess. He also actively participated in High Five Fridays at various Emporia USD 253 elementary schools, and volunteered for the Dynamic Discs Open disc golf event, a softball charity event for the Emporia Recreation Center, and helped out with high school powerlifting meets at Basehor -Linwood High School and various ESU Track & Field meets.
 
Myles Menges – Fort Hays State Football
Myles Menges was crowned the MIAA Defensive Player of the Year in the 2024 football season. He was also named an All-America First Team selection on the defensive line by the American Football Coaches Association (AFCE) and a Don Hansen Football Committee All-America Honorable Mention selection, and was named a member of D2Football.com Elite 100 Team (D2Football.com version of All-America honors). Along with his Defensive Player of the Year title, Menges was a First Team All-MIAA Defensive Lineman, which made him a four-time All-MIAA selection overall (3 times as a defensive lineman – 2022, 2023, 2024, and 1 time as a linebacker – 2021). Menges was also a finalist for the Cliff Harris Award – an honor awarded to top small college defensive players in NCAA Division II, III, and NAIA.
 
Menges, a 6’4” defensive lineman from Bushton, Kan., led all defensive linemen in NCAA Division II for pass breakups with 11. He helped the Tigers to a record of 8-3 while owning the best scoring defense (16.9 ppg) and second-best total defense (330.1 yds/game) in the MIAA. Menges tied for the sixth most sacks in the MIAA with 5.5 and finished the 2024 season with 27 tackles, 5.5 sacks, 6.5 tackles for loss, an interception, 11 pass breakups, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. He finished his career as a Tiger with 182 tackles, 30.5 tackles for loss, 15 sacks, two interceptions, 23 pass breakups, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.
 
Menges was also honored as an Academic All-America in the 2024 season. He graduated with his bachelor’s degree in science in health and human performance (Sports Management/Recreation) in May of 2023, then graduated with a master’s degree in science in health and human performance in December of 2024. Menges was a four-time MIAA Scholar-Athlete and a six-time member on the Association’s Academic Honor Roll. He was an active member of FHSU’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) and volunteered for Night to Shine, a prom sponsored by the Tim Tebow Foundation, honoring individuals in the community with special needs. Menges also spent time as a mentor for Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Ellis County and volunteered for Developmental Services of Northwest Kansas activities.
 
Cody Watson – Missouri Western Football
Cody Watson was named a two-time All-American kicker in the 2024 football season. The 6’4” senior from Yukon, Okla., earned First Team All-America honors from the Walter Camp Foundation and was named a Don Hansen Honorable Mention All-American. He was also awarded as the Association’s First Team All-MIAA kicker after leading the league with 16 field goals with a 76.2 field goal percentage (16-21) in the 2024 season. He ended his career at Missouri Western as the program’s leading kicker with  42 career field goals – most in Griffon football history. He also set a program record with 122 PATs and totaled 248 career points – the second most in program history.
 
Watson, a 4.0 criminal justice major, was also named an Academic All-American in the 2024 season. The honor was the second CSC Academic All-America distinction of his career. He was also a two-time recipient of the MIAA’s Mammoth “A Game” Scholar-Athlete Award – an honor awarded to the Association’s highest-performing student-athlete in the sport who excels both athletically and academically. Watson was also a four-time member on the MIAA Academic Honor Roll and a two-time MIAA Academic Excellence Award winner.
 
Watson was also very involved in Missouri Western’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), leading the group as the committee’s Vice President his senior year.
He helped spearhead the nationally recognized “Griffs Giving Gifts” initiative which helped Missouri Western’s SAAC raise $7,200 for Christmas gifts for local families in the St. Joseph community. Watson also helped organize a community clean-up week which involved more than 200 student-athletes cleaning up the community for an Earth Day Celebration. He’s also organized a SAAC Community Easter Egg hunt, drawing more than more than 100 community children who participated. He was also a regular participant of Missouri Western’s “Friendly Faces Friday” at local area elementary schools throughout the academic year.
 
Crew Howard – Nebraska Kearney Wrestler
Crew Howard was crowned the MIAA’s Co-Wrestler of the Year in the 2024-25 wrestling season. The redshirt junior from Clarinda, Iowa, was also Division II’s top-ranked heavyweight wrestler throughout the entire season after going undefeated at 24-0 in the regular season. Howard was also named an All-American with a fourth-place finish in the 285-pound bracket at the 2025 NCAA Division II Wrestling National Championship. He was also honored as the league’s Most Dominant Wrestler in the 2024-25 season, going 28-2 overall with 23 bonus points wins – 12 falls, five technical falls, and six major decision wins. The Lopers won the program’s fifth wrestling national title at the 2025 NCAA Division II National Championship. The Lopers’ Super Region VI Championship victory was also the program’s sixth regional title in the last seven seasons.
 
Off the mat, Howard is a 4.0 student-athlete set to graduate with his bachelor’s degree in business administration this May and begin pursuing his MBA at UNK this fall. He earned the “Outstanding Graduate Award” for the university’s business management department and was a back-to-back winner of the MIAA’s Mammoth “A Game” Scholar-Athlete Award, awarded to the highest-performing student-athlete in the sport – both athletically and academically. He’s also a three-time Academic All-American by the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) and a one-time Academic All-American by the College Sports Communicators (CSC). Howard is also a four-time member on the MIAA’s Academic Honor Roll, a three-time MIAA Academic Excellence Award recipient and a two-time MIAA Scholar-Athlete.
 
Howard took part in always every service project put on by the Loper wrestling program throughout the academic year. Some of the events he has volunteered with include the Meadowlark Elementary Reading Program, the Bike to School Day and the Walk to School Day. He’s also assisted local farmers in the community with various projects and volunteered to landscape at the local church. Howard has also helped up the annual “Huskerland” youth kids wrestling tournament and the NSAA State Duals wrestling tournament on UNK’s campus.
 
Mason Strader – Pittsburg State Cross Country/Track & Field
Mason Strader is the Association’s defending Male Student-Athlete of the Year after winning the Ken B, Jones Award in the 2023-24 academic year. Stader earned NCAA Division II All-America honors for the 10th and 11th times in his decorated career during the 2025 indoor track and field season. The distance runner from Holton, Kan., placed fourth in the mile run (4:01.77) at the 2025 NCAA Division II Indoor National Championship and helped the distance medley relay to the national title while breaking the all-time Division II record in the discipline (9:32.58). He posted the fifth-fastest time in Division II history and broke the all-time MIAA record in the mile (3:58.16) this past indoor season. He also set school records in the 3,000 meters (7:54.43) and the distance medley relay. Strader currently ranks No. 2 nationally in the 1,500 meters (3:39.34) heading to the 2025 NCAA Division II Outdoor National Championships after lowering his own school record in the discipline at the University of Oregon Twilight Meet on May 9.
 
Strader became a six-time MIAA Champion and a 15-time All-MIAA performer following the Association’s 2025 track and field championships where he helped the Gorillas sweep the 2025 MIAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships. He went on to help guide Pitt State to the 2025 NCAA Division II Indoor National Championship – the program’s third straight indoor national title. The Gorillas are currently ranked No. 1 in Division II for the 2025 Outdoor season as the Gorillas look to collect the program’s fourth straight outdoor national title at the 2025 Outdoor National Championships, hosted May 29-31.
 
Also a key member of the Gorillas' cross country team, Strader became a three-time All-MIAA performer in the 2024 cross country season. He helped Pitt State to the 2024 MIAA championship title and a seventh-place finish at the 2024 NCAA Division II National Championship – the program’s all-time best finish at the national championship. Strader also earned All-Region honors in the 2024 cross country season.
 
Strader is also a three-time Academic All-American by the College Sports Communicators (CSC). Strader graduated with his bachelor’s degree in architectural manufacturing management in May of 2023 and currently owns a 4.0 GPA while pursuing his master’s in health, human performance and recreation. He’s also an 11-time MIAA Scholar-Athlete and has been named to the MIAA’s Academic Honor Roll every cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field season of his career.
 
An active student-athlete on campus, Strader is the Vice President of Pittsburg State’s Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and a member of Pittsburg Area Young Professionals (PAYP). In his work with those organizations, he’s assisted in collecting monetary donations and assembled care packages with winter coats, gloves, hats and food items that were donated to people in need. He’s spent hours volunteering for Triffic, a therapeutic recreation for individuals with disabilities, through Pitt State’s health, human performance and recreation department on campus. He’s also volunteered at local high school track meets in the community and has volunteered for trash clean-up in Pittsburg’s community parks.