KANSAS CITY, Mo. - National Champion. Academic All-American.

And now, MIAA Athlete of the Year.

On Thursday (April 15), Lincoln senior Kizan David was named the MIAA Winter Male Student-Athlete of the Year, Presented by Summit Pointe Financial Group. The highest honor bestowed upon by the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association, David becomes the first Blue Tiger to win the award.

A computer information systems major with a 3.9 grade point average, David won the NCAA Division II national championship in the long jump and was the national runner-up in the triple jump at the Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships in March. A two-time first team All-American this year, David additionally won the triple jump and finished as the runner-up in the long jump at the MIAA Indoor Championships, and earned two USTFCCCA All-Region awards in 2021. Also a two-time All-MIAA performer, David led the country in the triple jump and was fifth nationally in the long jump entering the NCAA Division II Championships, where he helped Lincoln finish seventh overall.

In addition to his many accomplishments as a jumper, David has excelled in the classroom during his time at Lincoln, where he is a member of the university's honor society. David was selected to the CoSIDA/Google Cloud All-American first team and the CoSIDA/Google Cloud All-District first team in both 2019 and 2020, and he is a five-time recipient of the MIAA Scholar Athlete Award, which goes to student-athletes who achieve All-MIAA status and hold a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or higher. David has been named to the MIAA Academic Honor Roll five times, and has twice received national recognition for his academic performance from the USTFCCCA.

David has spent several years serving as a Lincoln University Peer Tutor, and this year helped distribute food to the elderly in the Jefferson City community. He's also served as a volunteer cricket instructor for local children, and volunteered at several University of Missouri football games.

The 2020-21 Student-Athlete of the Year awards are given in lieu of the annual Ken B. Jones award due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. The MIAA's COVID-19 Task Force recommended an award that properly recognizes the top student-athletes from the winter but not limit the student-athletes who were unable to finish their seasons and collect accolades for a fair and competitive resume.