COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) announced the 2023 Outdoor Track & Field All-Academic Team on Monday, with Audrey Bloomquist, Skye Ciccarelli, and Thorben Hast leading a group of 34 student-athletes from the University of Colorado Colorado Springs men's and women's track & field teams that garnered conference academic honors.
 
Colorado School of Mines swept the Men's and Women's Outdoor Academic Athlete of the Year awards, with senior Dillon Powell earning the honor on the men's side and Zoe Baker claiming the accolade on the women's side. The Orediggers also led the way with a total of seven First Team All-Academic selections, including five on the men's side and two on the women's side.
 
The RMAC All-Academic First Team and Academic Athlete of the Year awards were voted on by the conference's sports information directors.
 
To be eligible for consideration on the RMAC All-Academic First Team, a student-athlete must have been an active student at the institution for at least two consecutive semesters or three consecutive quarters and carry a cumulative 3.50 grade point average (GPA). All student-athletes that met those requirements but were not selected for the First Team, or have a cumulative GPA of at least 3.30, automatically qualified for the Honor Roll.
 
A native of Helena, Mont., Audrey Bloomquist posted a perfect 4.00 GPA as a business major to earn her third consecutive nod to the RMAC All-Academic First Team after previously receiving the accolade for the 2022 outdoor and 2022-23 indoor seasons. In addition to her success in the classroom, the redshirt junior put together an outstanding outdoor season, during which she broke the school record in the triple jump with a personal best mark of 12.50m while also notching personal records in the long jump (5.90m) and 100m dash (11.84s). Bloomquist put her talents on display at the 2023 RMAC Outdoor Championships, where she was named the RMAC Women's Athlete of the Meet after earning individual conference titles in the triple jump and long jump, racing as part of the Mountain Lion's first place 4x100m relay team, and securing a runner-up finish in the open 100m dash to score 28 individual points and ten relay points. A First Team All-RMAC selection in the 100m, 4x100m, Long Jump, and Triple Jump and a USTFCCCA All-Region selection in the 4x100m and Triple Jump, Bloomquist will finish her incredible outdoor season at the 2023 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships as the No. 8 ranked competitor in the women's triple jump.
 
An exercise science major with a 3.84 GPA, Skye Ciccarelli makes his second career appearance on the RMAC All-Academic First Team and first since earning the award following the 2021-22 indoor season. The 2023 season was also a successful one in the field of competition for the Woodland Park, Colo., native as he finished the campaign ranked second in the RMAC and tied for 22^nd in the nation with his season best mark of 2.10m. The redshirt junior saved his best jump of the season for the 2023 RMAC Outdoor Championships, where he secured the individual title in the high jump to score ten points and help the UCCS men's team claim their third consecutive outdoor title. Ciccarelli finishes the outdoor season having earned First Team All-RMAC and USTFCCCA All-Region honors for the high jump.
 
Junior Thorben Hast rounds out the Mountain Lion's First Team honorees as he brings home the accolade for the second time in his career after posting a 3.97 GPA as a business major. Hast put up a monstrous performance on April 6-7 at the Jo Meaker Classic & Multi, recording a personal best and school record score of 7,090 points in the decathlon, which held up as the tenth-best mark in the nation for the 2023 outdoor season. His mark also finished the campaign ranked second in the RMAC and fourth in the South Central region, earning him recognition on the USTFCCCA All-Region list for the event. Hast will conclude his strong season next week as he makes his first career appearance at the outdoor national championship meet as one of 15 competitors in the men's decathlon.
 
In addition to the first team honors for Bloomquist, Ciccarelli, and Hast, UCCS also had an additional 31 student-athletes recognized on the RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll, including 18 from the women's team and 13 from the men's team.
 
RMAC ALL-ACADEMIC HONOR ROLL – WOMEN'S TEAM
Nadine Almasri (Jr. – Colorado Springs, Colo.): 4.000 GPA, Health Care Sciences
Kamryn Bohlken (R-Jr. – Albuquerque, N.M.): 3.808 GPA, Criminal Justice
Molly Breuer (R-Fr. – Boerne, Texas): 3.951 GPA, Health Care Sciences
Faith Caldwell (So. – Barrington, Ill.): 3.407 GPA, Criminal Justice
Amber Davis (So. – Aurora, Colo.): 3.867 GPA, Women's and Ethnic Studies
Victoria Farinas (So. – Miami, Fla.): 3.319 GPA, Exercise Science
Anna Fauske (So. – Sherwood, Wis.): 3.558 GPA, Nursing
Brittany Fuchs (R-Sr. – Calhan, Colo.): 3.970 GPA, Inclusive Elementary Education/Master of Leadership
Rachel Goodrich (R-So. – Golden, Colo.): 3.946 GPA, Criminal Justice
Kelsey Graff (Jr. – Montrose, Colo.): 3.894 GPA, Communications
Kate Hedlund (Jr. – Manchester, Conn.): 3.537 GPA, Business
Anna Holland (R-Jr. – Fort Collins, Colo.): 3.984 GPA, Inclusive Elementary Education
Mason Ingallinera (R-So. – Bradenton, Fla.): 3.613 GPA, Exercise Science
Alyssa Lopez (So. – Littleton, Colo.): 3.557 GPA, Human Physiology & Nutrition
Melissa Moreni (Jr. – Helena, Mont.): 3.943 GPA, Biology
Faith Novess (R-Jr. – Debeque, Colo.): 3.369 GPA, Communications
Maggie Remsberg (R-Jr. – Newton, Kan.): 3.968 GPA, Biology
Rachel Richtman (Jr. – Elburn, Ill.): 3.878 GPA, Spanish
 
RMAC ALL-ACADEMIC HONOR ROLL – MEN'S TEAM
Dakota Abbott (R-Sr. – Amherst, Neb.): 3.580 GPA, Business Administration/Master of Business Administration
Jack Donze (R-Fr. – Arvada, Colo.): 3.906 GPA, Computer Science
Evan Graff (R-Sr. – Montrose, Colo.): 3.820 GPA, Criminal Justice/Master of Criminal Justice
Sean Graff (R-So. – Montrose, Colo.): 3.695 GPA, Criminal Justice
Joseph Hamilton (So. – Mesa, Ariz.): 4.000 GPA, Biochemistry
Chase Monestime (Jr. – Aurora, Colo.): 3.492 GPA, Business
Brian Mosley Jr. (R-Jr. – Colorado Springs, Colo.): 3.671 GPA, Business
Mason Pastorello (R-So. – Colorado Springs, Colo.): 3.762 GPA, Communications
Seth Richmond (R-Jr. – Paola, Kan.): 3.336 GPA, Business
Peyton Turnage (R-Jr. – Highlands Ranch, Colo.): 3.892, Business
Will Young (R-Jr. – Pewaukee, Wis.): 3.965 GPA, Mathematics
Afewerki Zeru (R-Sr. – Colorado Springs, Colo.): 3.467 GPA, Sociology
Jagger Zlotoff (R-Fr. – Gilbert, Ariz.): 3.609 GPA, Computer Science
 
The 2023 NCAA Division II Outdoor Track & Field Championships are set to begin on Thursday, May 25 at the CSU Pueblo ThunderBowl in Pueblo, Colo. The Mountain Lions will have 14 student-athletes competing across 12 individual entries and one relay entry at the three-day national championship meet.
 
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