WASHINGTON, D.C. (1/26/26) - Former Franklin Pierce University women's soccer player Aino Martikainen was presented with the 2026 NCAA Imapct Award Wednesday evening at the NCAA honors celebration at the organization's annual convention in National Harbor, Maryland.
The NCAA Impact Award celebrates the best of college athletics by honoring one exceptional male and one exceptional female senior student-athlete from each division. The honorees exemplify the highest standards of athletic excellence, academic achievement and service to their campuses and communities.
Martikainen was joined in winning the Impact Award by Division I honorees Mia Levy (Yale rowing) and Micaylon Moore (Nebraska men's track & field), Division II male honoree Brayden Long (Slippery Rock football) and Division III honorees Ella Brissett (Claremont-Mudd-Scripps women's tennis) and Matthew Wrather (John Carroll football).
ESPN personality and reporter Holly Rowe served as the emcee for the event. Martikainen was also joined on Wednesday night by Franklin Pierce Director of Athletics and women's soccer head coach Matt Johnson and associate head coach Kevon Isa - as well as Franklin Pierce administrators Steve Hennessey,
Liz Coll and
Danielle McCarthy.
The Impact Award was one of handful of major honors handed out by the NCAA Wednesday. Martikainen shared the stage with some of the most elite student-athletes in the country and some legendary figures in college sports history. Awards presented Wednesday included the Theodore Roosevelt Award (Dikembe Mutombo, Georgetown), the NCAA Woman of the Year Award (Samantha Schott, University of Texas at Tyler), the Silver Anniversary Awards (Drew Brees, Purdue; Tamika Catchings, Tennessee; Dr. Lauren Witmer, Millersville; Nick Ackerman, Simpson), the Gerald R. Ford Award (Charlene Curtis, Radford), the Pat Summitt Award (Nikki Franke, Temple), the Inspiration Award (Frankie Loiseau, Marymount) and the Award of Valor (Alex Guerra, Radford).
A three-year starter and team captain, Martikainen anchored the Ravens' defense throughout her career, starting all 65 matches and helping Franklin Pierce become one of the top defensive programs in the nation. She was twice named both a D2CCA First-Team All-American and a United Soccer Coaches First-Team All-American, while also earning three United Soccer Coaches All-Region and All-Northeast-10 First-Team honors. In 2024, she captured her second NE10 Defensive Player of the Year award, becoming just the second Raven in program history to win the distinction multiple times. Under her leadership, Franklin Pierce won two NCAA East Region titles and advanced to the 2024 NCAA Final Four, where she played every minute of the national semifinal against eventual champion Cal Poly Pomona.
Equally accomplished off the field, Martikainen graduated with a 3.90 GPA in psychology before earning her MBA in health administration with a 3.66 GPA. She was twice named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-America First Team, received the NE10 Presidents' Award for Academic Excellence, and earned multiple Academic All-District and Academic All-Conference selections. Beyond academics, she made a significant impact as a campus leader, serving two years on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, including a term as Secretary, while championing mental health awareness and peer mentorship initiatives.
Earlier this year, Martikainen was named the 2025 NE10 Woman of the Year, becoming only the second student-athlete in Franklin Pierce history to receive that honor, joining women's basketball legend Jo Leedham (2010). Her combination of athletic dominance, academic distinction, and community leadership made her a natural choice for the NCAA Impact Award — the pinnacle of student-athlete recognition.
