COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) announced today that University of Colorado Colorado Springs track & field student-athletes Maia Austin, Kaija Crowe, and Will Ross have been selected to the CoSIDA Academic All-District® 6 Men's Track & Field / Cross Country First Team.

The 2020 Academic All-District® Men's Track & Field / Cross Country Team, selected by CoSIDA, recognizes the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the field and in the classroom.

Maia Austin (Colorado Springs, Colo.) holds a perfect 4.00 GPA as an Exercise Science major and bags her first career CoSIDA Academic All-District 6 First Team selection. The 2020 RMAC Women's Academic Player of the Year is an RMAC All-Academic First Team selection in both women's cross country as well as the RMAC Summit Award winner in both sports, becoming the first student-athlete in school history to win two RMAC Summit Awards in their career. Austin went on to claim U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Academic honors in cross country where she also helped the Mountain Lions to a 15^th-place finish at the NCAA Cross Country Championships and clocked a PR time in the 6K on Oct. 26 at the RMAC Championship race, finishing 30^th overall in 21:54.9. On the track, Austin kept the 2019-20 season rolling as she registered a silver medal finish at the RMAC Championships in the women's mile with an improved provisional qualifying time of 4:52.76 to cement her place at the 2020 NCAA Championships. The mile was not the only event Austin qualified for as she helped the women's DMR team clock the ninth fastest time in Division II at 11:39.28 earlier in the season inside Mountain Lion Fieldhouse.  Though her converted mile time at conference championships punched her ticket to nationals, Austin's raw mile time of 5:00.04 at the New Mexico Team Open back in February gave the junior her new personal best. Austin's stellar performances earned her both a two-time USTFCCCA All-American and All-South Central Region selection in the mile and DMR.

No stranger to the CoSIDA Academic All-District 6 First Team, Kaija Crowe (Milaca, Minn.) notches the award for the second consecutive year as she boasts a 3.565 GPA as a Communications: Digital Film Making major. A 2020 USTFCCCA All-America in the women's pentathlon, Crowe was a machine during the 2019-20 indoor season as she ranked top-10 in the RMAC in five different events including pentathlon (1^st- 3,639 points), 400m (3^rd- 57.50s), Long Jump (4^th- 5.80m), High Jump (5^th- 1.60m), and the 60m Hurdles (8^th- 9.12s). Crowe's long jump, high jump, and pentathlon marks also landed her top-10 in the South Central Region as she earned USTFCCCA All-Region honors in the pentathlon. At the RMAC Championships, Crowe improved on her provisional mark with a personal best 3,639 points to nationally qualify in pentathlon with the 12th best mark in DII and become RMAC Champion in the event. Crowe took over at conference championships as she was responsible for 20.5 points scored and voted RMAC Athlete of the Meet for the third consecutive year to help the Mountain Lions win their second RMAC Indoor Track & Field Conference Championship.

A two-time 2020 USTFCCCA All-American, Will Ross builds on an already stellar senior year by earning CoSIDA Academic All-District 6 First Team honors as an Electrical Engineering major with a 3.89 GPA. During the indoor season, Ross claimed the ninth best long jump mark (7.45m) in DII and the fourth best triple jump mark (15.36m) in DII to punch his ticket to the 2020 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in both events. Those national qualifying marks marks came on the conference championship stage as he notched personal bests, set new school records, and was crowned RMAC Champion in the long jump and triple jump. Ross was responsible for a whopping 20 team points at conference championships as he helped the UCCS men's team win the program's first ever conference championship. The RMAC Male Academic Player of the Year's performances has earned him two All-RMAC First Team selections, two USTFCCCA All-South Central Region selections including top regional performer in the triple jump, and RMAC Men's Field Athlete of the Week for the week of Feb. 18.

As CoSIDA Academic All-District 6 First Team selections, Austin, Crowe, and Ross will advance to the CoSIDA Academic All-America® ballot. Academic All-America® honorees will be announced from June 22-25.