Harding's Malykhin Named GAC Male Athlete of the Year

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – On Thursday, the Great American Conference named Harding track & field champion Vlad Malykhin as its 2025-26 Male Athlete of the Year.

Malykhin became the fourth Bison lauded as the Male Athlete of the Year in the last eight years. Bryce Bray won in 2019, Dorian Chaigneau claimed the award in 2021 and Nathaniel Wallace earned it in 2024. Additionally, he joined Chaigneau and last year's winner, Oklahoma Baptist's Sean Dixon, as track & field athletes honored with the GAC's top male award.

This season, he completed a career-long sweep of the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championship titles in the pole vault as he claimed his seventh and eighth national titles. At the 2026 Indoor Championships, he cleared 5.41 meters. At the 2026 Outdoor Championships, he produced a winning mark of 5.56 meters.

He spearheaded the Bisons to a fifth-place team finish at the NCAA Outdoor National Championships, the program's third consecutive top-five national finish.

Other nominees for the 2025-26 GAC Male Athlete of the Year award included Arkansas-Monticello's Camden Tanner (Baseball), Arkansas Tech's Jacob Peetoom (Golf), East Central's Tyler Akers (Baseball), Henderson State's Andrew Edwards (Football), Northwestern Oklahoma State's Logan Sandoval (Baseball), Oklahoma Baptist's Terry Coner, Jr. (Basketball), Ouachita Baptist's Devon Hancock (Basketball), Southeastern Oklahoma State's Carter Olson (Baseball), Southern Arkansas' Keith Smith (Track & Field), Southern Nazarene's Keshon Carter (Soccer) and Southwestern Oklahoma State's Landon Meyer (Baseball).

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Players Mentioned

Vlad Malykhin: PV; 6' 1"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

Vlad Malykhin
: 6' 1"; Freshman
: PV