Mairen Mannon named a national Student Athlete of the Year

Heartland Volleyball player has been named a 2024-25 Student-Athlete of the Year recipient from the NJCAA. 

Heartland’s Mairen Mannon is the 2024-25 recipient of the NJCAA Lea Plarski Award. This award is presented annually to the NJCAA student-athlete who best exemplifies sportsmanship, leadership, community service, academic excellence, and athletic ability. 

Each year, four NJCAA student-athletes are honored for their achievements on the playing field, as well as in the classroom and their community, with the highest honors the association has established. In addition to the Lea Plarski Award, the NJCAA also names Athletes of the Year with the Betty Jo Graber Award, NJCAA Female Student-Athlete of the Year, the David Rowlands Award, NJCAA Male Student-Athlete of the Year, and the Champion Award. Athletes will be recognized at the 2025 NJCAA Hall of Fame and Awards on Tuesday, June 17, in Charlotte, NC. 

Mairen is a Heartland sophomore from Chillicothe, IL, where she attended Illinois Valley Central High School.  She graduates from Heartland this May with an Associate of Arts degree. She plans to transfer to Bradley University, where she will play volleyball and continue her studies in Child Life Sciences.

Becoming a mother just shortly before she started her first season of collegiate volleyball, Mairen impressed her coaches, teammates, advisors, and instructors with an uncommon level of tenacity and assuredness as she balanced family, academics and athletics. An integral member of the Hawks Volleyball team that finished 3^rd at Nationals, Mairen was named a First Team All-American and is the Region 24 Player of the Year and carries a 2024-2025 cumulative 4.0 GPA. 

“Beyond her incredible athletic achievements, what truly sets Mairen apart is her resilience, determination, and unwavering commitment to excellence in all aspects of life,” said Heartland Athletics Director Ryan Knox. “Balancing the demands of collegiate athletics is challenging on its own, but doing so while excelling in the classroom and raising a young child is nothing short of extraordinary.”

Created in 1995, the Lea Plarski Award is named after former NJCAA Lea Plarski in recognition of her tremendous service to the association. 

Mairen Mannon is the second student-athlete from Heartland to receive the Lea Plarski Award.  Cassie Kuizin (Softball) won the award in 2015-2016.