NEW ORLEANS -- The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association honored North Central College men's track & field head coach Gabe Rivera with the Midwest Region Coach of the Year award, while Braden Nicholson was named the Midwest Region Track Athlete of the Year, the organization announced on Thursday.

Rivera, in his third year at the helm of the Cardinal men's track & field program, led North Central to its seventh straight College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin Outdoor Championship this spring. Qualifying five individuals for the 2025 NCAA Division III National Championships, North Central claimed two All-American awards.

Earning those two All-American honors was Nicholson, the winner of the 10,000-meter race with a time of 29:20.59 to earn the program's first individual national champion since 2021. He is also just the second student-athlete in school history to win a national championship at both the 10,000-meter and 3,000-meter distances, which Nicholson did at the 2025 NCAA DIII Indoor Championships on March 14. The graduate student also claimed All-American accolades in the 5,000-meter run with a sixth-place finish (14:16.83). Nicholson is now a seven-time All-American for the men's track & field program, with a 2023 All-American honor in cross country. 

Nicholson and Rivera have continued the historic success of the North Central men's track & field programs as this marks the 52nd straight outdoor season the Cardinals have produced an All-American at the DIII Outdoor National Championships. North Central has also won a combined 15 straight Indoor & Outdoor CCIW Championships, dating back to 2017.