COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.— Colorado Mesa University's Ben Vester was named as the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference's Men's Swimming & Diving Academic Athlete of the Year while leading a list of eight Mavericks named to the First Team Academic All-RMAC squad.
 
The Mavericks led all RMAC teams with their eight first team selections and also had a league-high 15 athletes named to the RMAC's Academic Honor Roll, four more than any other RMAC men's program (Oklahoma Christian).  The Mavs' total of first team picks was double the next highest team (UT Permian Basin).
 
The Maverick women also had the RMAC Academic Athlete of the Year in Ada Qunell and a conference-leading nine of the 19 first team picks.
 
Vester, a sophomore from Stuttgart, Germany, holds a 3.80 GPA and is majoring in construction management.  He won three first team all-America honors at the NCAA Division II Championships placing third in the 800-yard freestyle relay, sixth in the 400 individual medley and eighth in the 200 IM while helping the Mavs to a third place team finish, their best ever national championship performance.
 
At the conference level, Vester swept the individual medley titles and helped the Mavs set a RMAC Championship record time of 6:27.43 in the 800 free relay.
 
He received the conference's top academic award after a balloting of the league's athletic communications directors, who selected the first team based on a combination of athletic and academic accomplishments.  Sixteen athletes were selected to the first team.
 
To be eligible for nomination to the first team, student-athletes must have a 3.5 or higher GPA, be in their second year at the institution and have used a season of eligibility. 
 
Honor roll status requires a 3.30 or higher GPA and the meeting of the other requirements.
 
The list of the Mavs other first team honorees includes Holden Convertino, Caleb Dutton, Conrad Fawcett, Jackson Moe, Miles Moran, Lucas Motley and Richard Schmiedefeld.
 
The list of honor roll selections can be found at the bottom of this story.
 
Convertino, a team co-captain and a junior from El Paso, Texas, holds a 3.74 GPA and is majoring in biological sciences.  He helped the Mavs win RMAC titles in both the 200 free and 200 medley relays and anchored the 200 free relay squad to a RMAC meet record time of 1:18.04.  He then went on to earn first team all-America honors in the 400 medley relay at the NCAA Championships.
 
Dutton has a 3.93 GPA and is majoring in construction management.  The South African has been named to the RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll three straight seasons.
 
Fawcett, a sophomore business administration major from Anchorage, Alaska, has a 3.90 GPA.  He scored in five events at the RMAC Championships, accounting for 52 ½ team points and earned the bronze medal in the 1,000-yard freestyle.   He was also a NCAA "B" cut performer in three events.
 
Moe, a senior from Missoula, Montana, has a 3.74 GPA and is majoring in exercise science.  He scored in all seven of his RMAC Championship events and has now been named to the First Team Academic All-RMAC squad twice (2024).
 
Moran, a sophomore from Salt Lake City, Utah, has a 3.90 GPA and was the RMAC Championship silver medalist in the 200 breast.  He also qualified for the NCAA Championships in both that event and the 400 IM.
 
Motley, a junior from Montrose, Colorado, holds a 3.74 GPA and is majoring in biological sciences.  He was a NCAA "B Cut" performer in the 200 breast and ranked sixth on the RMAC's season-long performance list with a time of 1:59.08.
 
Schmiedefeld, who like Vester, hails from Stuttgart, Germany, holds a 3.52 GPA and is majoring in business administration.  He earned six all-America honors, including five first team plaudits, this season and is now an 11-time all-American in his two years at CMU.  He is also a 7-time RMAC Champion and won three RMAC relay titles this year, while setting championship meet records in both the 200 and 800 free relays.
 

• Grant Browne (So., Computer Information Systems)
• Ryan Campbell (Sr., Construction Management)
• Holden Convertino (Jr., Biological Sciences)
• Caleb Dutton (R-Jr., Construction Management)
• Conrad Fawcett (So., Business Administration)
• Braden Felio (So., Mechanical Engineering)
• Brodie Khajuria (So., Biological Sciences)
• Carter Lackner (So., Environmental Science)
• Jackson Moe (Sr., Exercise Science)
• Miles Moran (So., Business Administration)
• Lucas Motley (Jr., Biological Sciences)
• Luka Samsonov (Sr., Business Administration)
• Richard Schmiedefeld (So., Business Administration)
• Matt Stelmaszak (So., Civil Engineering)
• Ben Vester (So., Construction Management)