COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) announced the 2025 Men's and Women's Outdoor Track & Field All-Academic Teams on Thursday afternoon, and the University of Colorado Colorado Springs track & field team was well-represented with a total of 53 honorees headlined by graduate student Donovan Mini being named as the RMAC Men's Academic Athlete of the Year and collecting RMAC All-Academic First Team accolades.
 
Mini was joined on the All-Academic First Team by junior Kyle Demos, senior Anna Fauske, redshirt senior Rachel Richtman, and sophomore Krissie Sanders, while 48 additional student-athletes from the program were recognized on the honor roll.
 
A sprinter from Atlanta, Ga., Mini becomes just the third male student-athlete in program history to collect RMAC Academic Athlete of the Year honors, and the first since William Ross earned the accolade following the 2021 outdoor season.
 
Colorado State University Pueblo's Katherine Higgins was tabbed as the RMAC Women's Academic Athlete of the Year after an outdoor season in which she won the individual national title in the shot put and was tabbed as the NCAA's Elite 90 award recipient at the Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
 
The RMAC All-Academic First Team and Academic Athlete of the Year awards are 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.
 
In his second campaign at UCCS as a graduate transfer from Cornell University, Mini garnered RMAC Men's Academic Athlete of the Year and All-Academic First Team accolades after pairing a strong season on the track with his excellent endeavors in the classroom while pursuing his Master of Sciences in Biology. In the field of competition, the standout sprinter posted a season-best time of 10.64 in the 100m dash at the Jo Meaker Classic & Multi before adding season-best marks of 21.25 in the 200m and 39.94 in the 4x100m later in the season at the conference championship meet. Mini competed in each of the three events at the RMAC Outdoor Championships and helped the Mountain Lions secure their fifth consecutive outdoor conference title by scoring 4.5 points as he finished eighth overall in both the 100m and 200m and ran the third leg of the team's conference champion 4x100m relay squad. With their All-RMAC First Team performance at the conference championship meet, Mini and the UCCS 4x100m relay team qualified for the outdoor national championship meet, where they went on to finish 12^th overall with a time of 40.43. Mini finishes his career at UCCS with his name etched into the history books as he ranks No. 3 all-time in the men's 100m dash with his personal best time of 10.43 that he clocked on April 5, 2024.
 
For the third time in his collegiate career, Demos picked up RMAC All-Academic First Team accolades after coupling a breakout season in the throws events with his exceptional efforts in the classroom as a business major. The junior thrower continuously made history throughout the 2025 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 marks of 17.66m in the shot put and 54.30m in the discus throw. The Colorado Springs native proved to be a key player in helping the Mountain Lions secure a narrow team victory at the RMAC Outdoor Championships, scoring 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 USTFCCCA All-Region honoree in the discus throw, Demos received recognition for his impressive efforts on the national scale as he earned qualification to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in both the shot put and discus throw for the first time in his collegiate career.
 
Hailing from Sherwood, Wis., Fauske collected All-Academic First Team honors for the fifth time in her collegiate career after yet another strong campaign on the track and in the classroom as a nursing major. Coming off an indoor season in which she collected a pair of First Team All-America accolades, Fauske rolled into the outdoor season in impressive fashion at the Chuck Haering Classic as she posted a provisional qualifying converted time of 16:21.36 in the 5,000m that held up as the No. 18 ranked time in the country on the year. Just one week later, the senior distance runner traveled to the west coast for the Stanford Invitational to compete in the 10,000m race for the first time in her career and put forth a monster debut performance as she shattered 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. Fauske carried her momentum into the outdoor conference championship meet, where she played a large part 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.
 
Richtman collected All-Academic First Team accolades for the second time in her collegiate career following an outdoor season in which she established new personal bests on the track and posted impressive marks in the classroom while pursuing her Master of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. After opening the outdoor season with a strong NCAA provisional qualifying converted time of 10:58.00 in the 3,000m Steeplechase at the Dr. Dan Caprioglio Early Bird Invite, the native of Elburn, Ill. shaved more than 23 seconds off her time just two weeks later at the Stanford Invitational with a personal best and school record time of 10:34.17. The fifth-year distance runner continued to improve her steeplechase time later in the month of April at the RMAC Outdoor Championships as she finished second overall in the event with a converted time of 10:32.81, earning All-RMAC First Team honors and scoring eight points for the women's team. Richtman's time from the outdoor conference championship meet also earned her qualification to compete in the event at the NCAA Outdoor Championships for the first time in her career, where she went on to notch a 20^th place finish.
 
A first-time member of the All-Academic First Team, Sanders earned the accolade after putting together an outdoor season in which she excelled both on the track and in the classroom as a philosophy major. A sophomore from Littleton, Colo., Sanders saved her best performances of the season for the outdoor conference championship meet as she scored 18 points and helped the women's team win their fifth outdoor title in the last six championships. Sanders finished second overall in the 100m hurdles and 400m hurdles with respective season-best times of 14.35 and 1:00.30 to collect All-RMAC First Team honors in both events. The hurdler will enter her junior season as the UCCS school record holder in the 400m hurdles with her personal best time of 1:00.05 that she posted on April 28, 2024 while also ranking third in program history for the 100m hurdles with a personal best time of 14.16.
 
In addition to five student-athletes being named to the first team, UCCS also had 48 student-athletes recognized on the RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll, including 24 apiece from the men's and women's teams.
 
2025 RMAC OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD ALL-ACADEMIC HONOR ROLL – WOMEN'S TEAM
Abby Bartel (R-So. – Fremont, Wis.): Nursing
Molly Breuer (R-Jr. – Boerne, Texas): Nursing
Madison Brosig (R-Fr. – Greeley, Colo.): Exercise Science
Audrey Brunken (R-So. – Moreno Valley, Calif.): Exercise Science
Madison Chavez (R-So. – San Ramon, Calif.): Mechanical Engineering
Gigi Douillard (R-Jr. – Niwot, Colo.): Human Physiology & Nutrition
Phia Edwards (So. – Monument, Colo.): Criminal Justice
Megan Ericksen (R-So. – Aurora, Colo.): Nursing
Kaley Fergus (R-Fr. – Gig Harbor, Wash.): Exercise Science
Emma Finchum (R-Jr. – Gilbert, Ariz.): Mechanical Engineering
Rachel Goodrich (R-Sr. – Golden, Colo.): Criminal Justice
Savannah Jorgens (Jr. – Centennial, Colo.): Criminal Justice
Alyssa Lopez (Sr. – Littleton, Colo.): Human Physiology & Nutrition
Victoria Malaki (Sr. – Mesa. Ariz.): Criminal Justice
Emma Montoya (So. – Los Alamos, N.M.): Exercise Science
Madissyn Moore (R-Jr. – Milwaukee, Wis.): Communications
Brooke Moss (R-Jr. – Colorado Springs, Colo.): Exercise Science
Lara Murdock (R-Jr. – Colby, Kan.): Education
Kseniya Nikanorov (Jr. – Castle Rock, Colo.): International Business
Kaya Pillivant (R-So. – Cheyenne, Wyo.): Mathematics
Dallis Robinson (So. – Aurora, Colo.): Business
Maddie Ruszkiewicz (R-So. – Middleton, Wis.): Geography & Environmental Studies
Olivia Sargent (R-Fr. – Monument, Colo.): Nutrition & Dietetics
Brianna Spencer (R-So. – Georgetown, Texas): Nursing
 
2025 RMAC OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD ALL-ACADEMIC HONOR ROLL – MEN'S TEAM
Gunnar Betts (So. – Dripping Springs, Texas): Nursing
Kyle Briggs (R-Fr. – Eugene, Ore.): Mechanical Engineering
Michael Burke Jr. (R-So. – Pompton Lakes, N.J.): Exercise Science
Tyler Campbell (R-Fr. – Gig Harbor, Wash.): Mechanical Engineering
Logan Cole (Sr. – Zionsville, Ind.): Geography & Environmental Studies
Hayden Cuevas (So. – Henderson, Colo.): Business
Koy Cunningham (R-So. – Monument, Colo.): Exercise Science
Brett Davis (So. – Thornton, Colo.): Mechanical Engineering
Jack Donze (R-Jr. – Arvada, Colo.): Mechanical Engineering
Tre Garcia (So. – Windsor, Colo.): Health Care Science
Jonas Graff (R-Fr. – Montrose, Colo.): Secondary Education-Mathematics
Joseph Impellitteri (R-So. – Hebron, Ky.): Communications
Tyler Jamieson (R-Fr. – Santa Barbara, Calif.): Digital Filmmaking
Will Lamb (R-Jr. – Beaver, Pa.): Philosophy
Caden Leal (R-So. – Loveland, Colo.): Exercise Science
Pablo Lomeli (R-Jr. – Round Rock, Texas): Exercise Science/Master of Business Administration
Andrew Muncy (R-So. – Longmont, Colo.): Nursing
TJ Nissen (So. – Omaha, Neb.): Mechanical Engineering
Michael Roberts (Jr. – Arvada, Colo.): Business
TJ Saglembeni (R-So. – Monument, Colo.): Accounting
Turner Schad (R-So. – Sauk Rapids, Minn.): Human Physiology/Nutrition
Colin Scheller (R-Fr. – Carver, Minn.): Criminal Justice
Luke Trinrud (So. – Colorado Springs, Colo.): History
Jagger Zlotoff (R-Jr. – Gilbert, Ariz.): Computer Science
 
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