COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.— Colorado Mesa University track & field standout Justin Thompson added yet another honor to his decorated resume and was named as the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference's Academic Athlete of the Year for the fifth time in his illustrious career and was joined on the RMAC  Outdoor Track & Field All-Academic First Teams by teammates Beau Thornton and Josie Coffey, it was announced by the conference officials on Thursday afternoon.
 
The Maverick men also had 16 other honor roll picks while the CMU women had 21 overall honorees, including Coffey.
 
The men's and women's first team all-academic squad was selected by a vote of the conference's sports information directors based on a combination of athletic and academic accomplishments.  Nominees for the first team must have at least a 3.5 GPA although most of the 15 men and 15 have figures that are significantly higher...  Additionally, nominees must have been at their institution for at least one full academic year prior to the season and used a season of eligibility in 2024.
 
Honor roll selections must have a 3.30 or higher GPA and meet the other requirements.  Those not selected for the first team automatically qualify for the honor roll.

Thompson, a native of Carbondale, Colorado, completed his jumping career last weekend at the NCAA Division II Championships by earning his seventh career all-America honor, the largest total of any Maverick track & field athlete in program history.  He finished 12^th in the long jump at the national meet after setting a school-record mark of 7.61 meters (24 feet, 11 ¾ inches) earlier in the season.

Thompson was also named as the RMAC's Men's Indoor Track & Field Academic Athlete of the Year in 2024 and has earned a multitiude of other awards throughout his career, a list highlighted by his two NCAA Elite 90 and four RMAC Summit Awards.  He has also been a 3-time College Sports Communicators Academic All-American and has now been named to the RMAC All-Academic First Team in eight straight indoor and outdoor seasons. 
He holds a 4.00 GPA in both his undergraduate and graduate coursework in athletic training and exercise science, respectively.

Thornton, a fifth-year senior from Grand Junction, Colorado, has also been recognized in the RMAC All-Academic awards for the last eight seasons, but broke through for his initial first team honor.  The exercise science major holds a 3.96 GPA and earned five Second Team All-RMAC honors in the sprinting events throughout this career. 

He was a part of the Mavs' silver medal winning 4x100-meter relay team at this year's RMAC Championships and helped the Mavs set a school-record and NCAA Championship provisional qualifying time of 40.33 seconds earlier in the season.

Coffey, a senior out of Lakewood, Colorado, was named as the NCAA's Elite 90 Winner on Saturday for having the highest GPA of any student-athlete at the national meet.  The political science major holds a perfect 4.0 GPA.

She has now been named to the RMAC All-Academic First Team in all six indoor and outdoor seasons she has been eligible for the award and has won five career RMAC titles in the high jump, including both the indoor and outdoor crowns this season.  She also earned her fifth career all-America honor with a fifth place finish at the national championships and has been an all-region performer in all eight seasons of her career while being named as the region's top performer in four of them.  She cleared 1.80 meters (5-10.75) to co-lead the national performance list this year and has been an 8-time all-region and 7-time All-RMAC performer in her career.  She is also a 2-time Academic All-American and will be nominated for a third honor in the coming weeks.

The Mavs' 36 (16 men, 20 women) honor roll selections are listed below.

Men
Jackson Baker (3.90, Exercise Science)
Chase Brown (4.00, Civil Engineering)
Triston Charles (3.68, Criminal Justice)
Kevin DeGree (3.94, Mechanical Engineering)
Logan Hafey (3.60, Nursing)
Quentin Hartel (3.91, Computer Science)
Peter Leary (3.67, Physics)
Aidan Mobley (3.77, Electrical & Computer Engineering)
Kelsey Montague (3.38, Exercise Science)
Jameson Moore (3.46, Business Administration)
Zach Musso (3.37, Sport Management)
Jeremiah Reed (3.38, Construction Management)
Nathan Sanches (3.50, Mathematics (UG)/3.55, Statistics (Graduate)
Seth Sherwood (3.93, Business Administration)
Simon Straub (3.59, Mechanical Engineering)
Kyle Towne (3.78, Civil Engineering)

Women
Elaina Arcand (3.77 GPA, Graphic Design)
Jordan Brockman (3.74, Psychology)
Jordan Burnett (4.00, Exercise Science)
Serenity Burnett-Perry (3.67, Social Work)
Josie Coffey (4.00, Political Science)
Emma Dikken (3.42, Exercise Science)
Kaelea Gibson (3.46, Accounting)
Augustine Hancock (3.81, Criminal Justice)
Ally Herring (3.64, Business Administration)
Gaby Horton (3.37, Nursing)
Gianna Kirking (3.93, Nursing)
Sophie Lindauer (3.83, Exercise Science)
Kate Linstedt (3.58, Civil Engineering)
Hope Matteson (3.64, Exercise Science)
Rachel Meeks (3.70, Nursing)
Brooke Miller (3.94, Nursing)
Lily Nieslanik (3.39, Political Science)
Katie Thomson (3.64, Exercise Science)
Virginia Tomon (3.59, Business Administration)
Lexie Williams (3.68, Exercise Science)
Heather Yackey (4.00, Fitness & Health Promotion)