COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University swimming and diving teams swept the top honors and had a league-high ten first team selections to the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference All-Academic First Teams, announced by conference officials on Wednesday afternoon.
 
Ben Sampson was named as the RMAC Men's Academic Athlete of the Year and led four Mavericks on the 10-man squad while Lauren White was recognized as the Women's Academic Athlete of the Year, leading a group of six CMU women on the 10-member first team.  No other RMAC school had more than two women's selections.
 
Joining Sampson as first team selections on the men's side were Gavin Anderson, Mahmoud Elgayar and Jacob Troescher.  Elgayar is now a 4-time first team pick.  Anderson and Sampson were also selected last year.
 
Joining White on the women's first team were Logan Anderson, Kyra Apodaca, Lily Borgenheimer, Ruby Bottai and Emily Moreland.  Borgenheimer, last year's RMAC Academic Athlete of the Year, and Moreland, the 2022 RMAC Summit Award winner were also selected last year as was White.
 
Additionally, the Maverick men had ten RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll selections in Lane Austin, Felipe D'Orsi, Adam Hartwell, Jeremy Koch, Austin Mondello, Austin Patterson, Dejan Urbanek, Bailey Usey, Lucas Viana and John Walgast.  The CMU women had four other honor poll picks in Portia Blackert, Katerina Matoskova, Kathryn Schwartz and Ellie Wilke.
 
In order to be eligible for RMAC All-Academic First Team honors, student-athletes must carry a minimum 3.50 cumulative GPA through the most recently completed term, up from a 3.30 or higher requirement in years past. Qualifiers must also have been a student at their respective institution for at least two consecutive semesters or three consecutive quarters and must have used a season of competition this year.  Sports information directors from the conference's member institutions nominated and selected the first team based on a combination of athletic and academic accomplishments.  Those not selected were for the first team were automatically being placed on the RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll, which requires a 3.30 or higher GPA along with the other requirements.
 
All of the qualifiers were publicly recognized during last week's RMAC Championships, which saw the Mavericks sweep the team titles for the fifth straight season.
 
Sampson, a redshirt sophomore sport management major with a 3.88 GPA, has had a brilliant season and leads NCAA Division II in four different individual events, including the 200-yard backstroke, an event in which he set the all-time Division II record of 1:40.73 (1:39.53-altitude) adjusted.  The Arvada, Colorado native won all four of his individual events at the RMAC Championships raising his 3-year career total to 15 RMAC titles.
 
White is the fourth consecutive Maverick to earn the RMAC Women's Academic Athlete of the Year and is the most decorated Maverick student-athlete in all sports with 16 career all-America honors.  She is also a 16-time RMAC Champion and won three RMAC relay titles this year while finishing second behind a teammate in her three individual events.  She also ranks amongst the nation's top 10 swimmers in three individual events and leads the country in three relays.  The business administration/marketing major out of Golden, Colorado has a 3.85 GPA and has now earned 27 All-RMAC certificates, including 23 first team honors.

2022-23 RMAC Men's Swimming & Diving First Team Academic All-Conference
 

Gavin Anderson	Colorado Mesa	R-So.	3.92	Accounting
Mahmoud Elgayar	Colorado Mesa	R-Sr.	3.54	Mechanical Engineering
Ben Sampson*	Colorado Mesa	R-So.	3.88	Sport Management
Jacob Troescher	Colorado Mesa	So.	3.83	Computer Science
Charles Burroughs	Colorado School of Mines	Sr.	3.77	Mechanical Engineering
Seth Krause	Colorado School of Mines	Jr.	3.82	Computer Science
Jaron O'Grady	Colorado School of Mines	R-So.	3.97	Computer Science/Electrical Engineering
Andres Saa	Colorado School of Mines	So.	3.98	Mechanical Engineering
Elijah Tung	Oklahoma Christian	Sr.	3.60	General Studies
Niklas Heelein	Texas Permian Basin	So.	4.0	Health Professions

 
* 2022-23 RMAC Academic Athlete of the Year

2022-23 RMAC Women's Swimming & Diving First Team Academic All-Conference
 

Name	School	Cl.	GPA	Major
Logan Anderson	Colorado Mesa	R-Sr.	3.69	Exercise Science / Biology
Kyra Apodaca	Colorado Mesa	So.	3.73	Mathematics
Lily Borgenheimer	Colorado Mesa	Gr.	3.69	Liberal Arts
Ruby Bottai	Colorado Mesa	R-Jr.	3.86	Mass Communications
Emily Moreland	Colorado Mesa	R-Jr.	3.97	Elementary Education
Lauren White*	Colorado Mesa	R-Jr.	3.85	Business Administration/Marketing
Annie Osmun	Colorado School of Mines	Jr.	3.50	Civil Engineering
Meghan Slowey	Colorado School of Mines	Sr.	3.70	Mechanical Engineering
Cheyenne Dennison	Oklahoma Christian	Sr.	4.0	Business Administration / Marketing

* 2022-23 RMAC Academic Athlete of the Year

CMU's RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll Selections

Men
Lane Austin (R-Sr., 3.68, Business Administration/Marketing)
Felipe D'Orsi (R-Jr., 3.34, Business Administration/International Business)
Adam Hartwell (R-Jr., 3.38, Biology)
Jeremy Koch (So., 3.92, Physics)
Austin Mondello (R-So., 3.72, Exercise Science)
Austin Patterson (So., 3.89, Exercise Science)
Dejan Urbanek (So., 3.71, Cybersecurity)
Bailey Usey (R-So., 3.34, Business Administration/Entrepreneurship)
Lucas Viana (So., 3.70, Exercise Science)
John Walgast (So., 3.61, History)

Women
Portia Blackert (R-Jr., 3.85, Business Administration)
Katerina Matoskova (R-So., 3.48, Chemistry)
Kathryn Schwartz (R-So., 3.85,Houston, Texas, Psychology)
Ellie Wilke (So., 3.73, Business Administration/Entrepreneurship)