COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. –The University of Colorado Colorado Springs track & field and cross country teams had eight student-athletes recognized on the College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District Team on Tuesday morning, with Kyle Demos, Joseph Hamilton, Thorben Hast, and Jagger Zlotoff representing the Mountain Lions on the men's side and Anna Fauske, Kaya Pillivant, Rachel Richtman, and Krissie Sanders securing the accolade on the women's side.
 
Coming off an incredible year both in the classroom as a business major and in the field of competition, Kyle Demos brought home CSC Academic All-District accolades for the first time in his collegiate career after being selected to the RMAC All-Academic First Team for both the indoor and outdoor seasons. A local product from Colorado Springs, Colo., Demos began the year with a breakout showing during the indoor season in which he broke the UCCS school record in the men's shot put three different times and finished the campaign ranked third in the RMAC and 23^rd in NCAA Division II for the event with a season-best provisional qualifying mark of 17.08m. Demos wrapped the indoor campaign by scoring six points and notching All-RMAC First Team distinction in the men's shot put with a third-place mark of 16.60m at the indoor conference championship meet. The outstanding thrower raised his level of competition even further when the calendar flipped to the outdoor season as he broke his own UCCS outdoor school records in the men's shot put and discus throw on four different occasions for each event, finishing the campaign with personal best and provisional qualifying marks of 17.66m and 54.30m, respectively. Demos put his best foot forward at the 2025 RMAC Outdoor Championships and was a key player in helping the Mountain Lion men's squad win their fifth straight outdoor title as he scored a total of 18 points as the individual event champion in the discus throw and the runner-up in the shot put. An All-RMAC First Team recipient in the shot put and discus throw and a USTFCCCA All-Region honoree in the discus throw, Demos finished the outdoor season ranked inside the top 22 competitors in NCAA Division II for the shot put and discus throw, earning qualification to the outdoor national championship meet for the first time in his collegiate career.
 
A native of Sherwood, Wis., Anna Fauske secured CSC Academic All-District honors for the second time in her collegiate career after pairing a storied senior season in the distance events with her exceptional efforts in the classroom as a nursing major. An RMAC All-Academic First Team honoree for the cross country, indoor, and outdoor seasons, Fauske opened the year with an incredible performance during the cross country season that saw her collect a pair of top five finishes at the RMAC Cross Country Championships (3^rd) and NCAA Division II South Central Region Cross Country Championships (2^nd) to earn All-RMAC First Team and USTFCCCA All-Region accolades. At the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships, Fauske raced to a ninth-place finish with a time of 20:43.8 to notch USTFCCCA All-America accolades for the third time in her career. Fauske's success continued into the indoor season as she proceeded to post top 12 nationally ranked NCAA provisional qualifying marks in four different events, including the mile, 3,000m, 5,000m, and distance medley relay. The fourth-year standout put on a show at the RMAC Indoor Championships as she cruised to individual event titles in both the 3,000m and 5,000m races, collecting All-RMAC First Team accolades in both events and scoring 20 points for the UCCS women's team. A USTFCCCA All-Region honoree in the 3,000m and 5,000m, Fauske declared and qualified to compete in both events at the NCAA Division II Indoor Championships, where she raced to a pair of USTFCCCA First Team All-America nods with a fourth-place finish in the 5,000m and a fifth-place finish in the 3,000m and scored each of the nine points for the Mountain Lion women's team that finished tied for 21^st overall. The senior distance runner closed her collegiate career on a high note during the outdoor season as she opened the new campaign with a strong provisional qualifying performance in the 5,000m before putting forth a monster showing in her first ever 10,000m race, shattering the UCCS school record in the event with a provisional qualifying time of 33:22.66 that finished the season ranked second overall in the nation. At the outdoor conference championship meet, Fauske played a large role in helping the UCCS women's team regain the outdoor conference title as she finished first overall in the 10,000m and second overall in the 5,000m to score a total of 18 points. Already having collected All-RMAC First Team honors in the 5,000m and 10,000m and USTFCCCA All-Region accolades in the 10,000m, Fauske added two more awards to her resume at the NCAA Outdoor Championships as she collected USTFCCCA First Team All-America accolades with an eighth-place finish in the 5,000m and USTFCCCA Second Team All-America honors with an 11^th-place finish in the 10,000m.
 
Another first time CSC Academic All-District honoree, Joseph Hamilton collected the accolade after a 2024-25 campaign in which he was selected to the RMAC All-Academic First Team during the indoor season and the All-Academic Honor Roll during the cross country season for excellent work in the classroom as a biochemistry major. Traditionally a mid-distance runner, Hamilton had a light cross country season in which he competed in two races and posted an 8K personal best time of 27:10.3 at the UCCS XC Open. The fourth-year runner from Mesa, Ariz. ramped up his activity for the start of the indoor season, however, as he went on to clock an indoor personal best 800m time of 1:53.29 at Bruce Lehane Scarlet & White Invitational, which moved him to fourth all-time in program history for the event. At the 2025 RMAC Indoor Championships, Hamilton held down the 800m leg of the Mountain Lions' RMAC Champion distance medley relay team that posted a converted time of 9:42.37 and locked down a qualifying spot at the indoor national championship meet. At indoor nationals, Hamilton and the rest of the DMR squad garnered USTFCCCA Second Team All-America accolades in the event after galloping to a 10^th place finish with a time of 9:50.77.
 
For the fourth time in his outstanding collegiate career, Thorben Hast secured Academic All-District accolades as a result of his impressive efforts in the classroom as a business major and his remarkable endeavors in the field of competition. In addition to earning the fifth RMAC All-Academic First Team selection of his career, Hast's fifth and final indoor season wearing the black and gold saw him post a season-best provisional qualifying mark of 5,287 points in the men's heptathlon, which was the top mark in the RMAC by more than 100 points and earned him a selection to the indoor national championship meet with the eighth-best mark in the country. At the RMAC Indoor Championships, Hast contributed six points to the men's team as he notched All-RMAC First Team accolades with a third-place mark of 4,953 points in the heptathlon. After registering USTFCCCA All-Region honors with the second-highest heptathlon mark in the South Central region, Hast made his second career appearance at the indoor national championship meet and went on to record a 13^th place finish with a mark of 4,297 points.
 
An RMAC All-Academic First Team honoree following the cross country season, Kaya Pillivant picked up Academic All-District accolades for the first time in her collegiate career with the help of her strong efforts in the classroom as a mathematics major. A native of Cheyenne, Wyo., Pillivant put together a solid cross country season in which she secured All-RMAC Second Team honors with a 28^th-place finish at the RMAC Championship meet, completing the race in a personal best 6K time of 21:25.8. The redshirt sophomore distance runner posted a 27^th place finish at the NCAA South Central Regional meet before rounding out the campaign with a 62^nd place finish in her first career appearance at the cross country national championships. During the indoor season, Pillivant notched a season-best converted time of 17:57.46 in the 5,000m and qualified to compete in the event at the RMAC Indoor Championships, where she galloped to a 16^th place finish. Pillivant continued to excel as the outdoor season rolled around, posting a season-best converted time of 17:30.66 in the 5,000m at the Kit Mayer Classic before contributing a point to the women's team's title efforts with an eighth-place finish in the 5,000m at the outdoor conference championship meet.
 
A fifth-year student-athlete from Elburn, Ill., Rachel Richtman notched Academic All-District honors for the first time in her collegiate career after combining a breakout season on the track with her excellent work in the classroom while pursuing her Master of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. An RMAC All-Academic First Team selection following the cross country and outdoor seasons, Richtman put together a consistent cross country season as she surged to a 34^th place finish at the RMAC championship meet before taking 36^th place at the South Central regional championship and a 90^th place finish at the NCAA DII championships. She continued to be a major contributor throughout the course of the indoor season as she scored five points at the RMAC Indoor Championships, finishing fifth overall in the mile with a provisional qualifying time of 4:53.98 and fifth overall in the distance medley relay with a provisional qualifying time of 11:54.29. After securing All-RMAC Second Team accolades in the mile with her performance at the indoor conference championship meet, Richtman was selected to run the mile leg for the Mountain Lions' national qualifying DMR team that ultimately earned USTFCCCA Second Team All-America accolades with a 10^th place time of 11:37.99 at the NCAA DII Indoor Championships. Richtman broke out in a big way during the outdoor season as she shattered the UCCS school record in the 3,000m steeplechase with a time of 10:34.17 at the Stanford Invitational before shaving nearly two more seconds off of her time with a converted mark of 10:32.81 that was good for a second place finish in the event at the outdoor conference championship meet. Richtman's time earned her qualification to the NCAA Outdoor Championships for the first time in her career as she went on to finish 20^th overall in the nationals field with a time of 11:28.24.  
 
Following a superb sophomore season in which she excelled on the track and in the classroom as a philosophy major, Krissie Sanders secured Academic All-District accolades for the first time in her collegiate career. The second-year hurdler opened the campaign with a strong indoor season that saw her post personal best times of 8.86 in the 60m hurdles and 57.77 in the 400m dash in addition to running the 400m leg of the Mountain Lions' top five nationally ranked DMR squad that posted a converted time of 11:23.59. Sanders picked up a pair of All-RMAC Second Team accolades at the RMAC Indoor Championships with fifth place finishes in the 60m hurdles and 400m dash while also securing USTFCCCA All-Region honors in the 60m hurdles. Sanders finished the indoor season on the national stage as the 400m leg of UCCS' distance medley relay team at the NCAA Indoor Championships as the group notched USTFCCCA Second Team All-America honors with a 10^th place time of 11:37.99. A native of Littleton, Colo., Sanders saved the best performances of her outdoor season for the conference championship meet as she played a key role in helping the women's team win their fifth outdoor title in the last six championships The hurdler finished second overall in both the 100m hurdles and 400m hurdles with respective season-best times of 14.35 and 1:00.30 to score a total of 18 points and collect a pair of All-RMAC First Team honors.
 
Jagger Zlotoff notched Academic All-District honors for the second consecutive season behind another all-around impressive performance between his endeavors inside the classroom as a computer science major and on the track. An RMAC All-Academic First Team selection during the cross country and indoor seasons, the Gilbert, Ariz. native had a huge start to the 2024-25 academic year as he won the UCCS Rust Buster 8k in his cross country season debut with a time of 25:10.6 that earned him USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week accolades. Zlotoff continued his success into the postseason as he earned All-RMAC First Team accolades and USTFCCCA All-Region honors with a fifth-place finish at the RMAC Championships with an 8K PR time of 24:10.4 and a 22^nd place finish at the regional championship meet before taking 82^nd place at the NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships. The standout mid-distance runner kept his momentum rolling into the indoor season as he posted a season-best and school record time of 4:00.62 in the men's mile at the Bruce Lehane Scarlet & White Invite that held up as the 10^th-fastest mark in the nation. At the RMAC Indoor Championships, Zlotoff raced to an individual event title in the men's mile while also holding down the mile leg of UCCS' RMAC champion distance medley team. An All-RMAC First Team honoree in the mile and DMR following his performance at the conference championship meet, Zlotoff was selected as a national qualifier in both events and went on to secure a pair of All-America accolades at the NCAA DII Indoor Championships, including First Team honors with a fifth-place finish in the mile and Second Team honors with a 10^th-place finish in the DMR. Zlotoff continued to make history as the outdoor season came along as he broke his own 1500m school record at the Stanford Invitational with a time of 3:42.85 before going on to notch All-RMAC First Team accolades with a second-place finish in the event at the RMAC Outdoor Championships. A national qualifier in the 1500m for the third consecutive season, Zlotoff proceeded to earn USTFCCCA Second Team All-America accolades after finishing 10^th overall in the event at the outdoor national championship meet.
 
The 2025 Academic All-District® Men's and Women's Cross Country and Track & Field Teams, selected by College Sports Communicators, recognize the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances in the athletic realm and in the classroom. The CSC Academic All-America® program separately recognizes honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA.
 
First, second, and third-team Academic All-America® honorees will be announced on July 15 (women) and July 16 (men) at 10 a.m. (MT) each day.
 
The Division II and III CSC Academic All-America® programs are partially financially supported by the NCAA Division II and III national governance structures to assist CSC with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2024-25 Divisions II and III Academic All-America® programs.
 
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