WESTFIELD, Mass.  –Westfield State junior John Nekitopoulos (West Springfield, Mass.) was named Tuesday as the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference's male track athlete of the week.

Nekitopoulos was recognized after running a personal best time of 4:20.36 in winning the mile race at the Pioneer Fast Trax Invitational meet in Utica, N.Y. on Saturday, Feb. 3.  Nekitopoulos was the fastest man in a 49-athlete field that included runners from 17 different schools.

Steadily lowering his times, Nekitopoulos is six seconds off the school record of 4:14.14, set by John Messer in 2008.

Nekitopoulos added a fifth place finish in the 800 meters in a time of 2:00.04 at Utica on Saturday.

His Owls track and field team will next compete at the MASCAC Championship meet on Saturday, Feb.10, which Westfield will host on the track at Smith College in Northampton, Mass.  The meet begins at 10:30 a.m., with Nekitopoulos set to run the mile at 1:35 p.m.