CSC Release

Greenwood, Indiana – College Sports Communicators released the 2025-26 Academic All-America® teams today for men's track and field with Northern State junior Levi Reis honored on the second team. He is just the second honoree in men's track and field program history following Sam Tremelling in 2024-25. Minnesota State's Marenono Opiew earned CSC All-American Third Team honors as did Wayne State College junior thrower Jaxson Ninete. 

Reis was honored with the NCAA Elite Scholar Athlete Award at the 2026 Outdoor Track and Field Championships after qualifying for the first national meet of his career. He is a 2-time CSC Academic All-District® honoree, the NSIC Champion in the javelin, and holds the school record in the event. The Ellendale native is a Biology major with a 4.0 grade point average.

Hailing from Worthington, Minn., Opiew earned All-NSIC honors at the NSIC Indoor Championships as a member of the 4x400 relay team that finished first with a time of 3:16.19. At the NCAA Outdoor Championships Opiew earned All-American Second Team honors in the 400m hurdles as he finished 12th with a time of 52.19. Opiew also garnered All-American honors in the 4x400 relay event at the NCAA Outdoor Championships as his team finished in fourth place with a time of 3:06.44. Opiew is triple majoring in sport management, exercise science and mathematics and boasts a 3.94 GPA.
 
A graduate of Elkhorn High School, Ninete is the seventh athlete in school history to be named Academic All-American and the first since Gabe Peitz was a Third Team selection in the 2023-24 season. Ninete maintained a 3.96 grade point average majoring in history.  On the track, he was the NSIC champion and an NCAA Division II national qualifier in the hammer throw during the outdoor season.  Ninete had a winning mark of 191' 9" to earn NSIC champion honors in the hammer throw and had a career-best mark of 204' 2" at the Tim Marshall Open in Mankato May 2^nd.  He also earned a fifth-place medal in the discus at 156' 10".  In the indoor season, Ninete collected All-NSIC honors thanks to a second-place finish in the weight throw at 62' 3".

The Division II Academic All-America® program is being financially supported by the NCAA Division II national governance structure to assist CSC with handling the awards fulfillment aspects for the 2025-26 Division II Academic All-America® program.