July 21, 2026
NEW ORLEANS, La. – The Dakota State University Trojan women's and men's track & field program continue to pile up awards. All-Academic teams and scholar-athletes for the 2026 NAIA Women's and Men's Track & Field were announced Monday by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).
Both Trojan women's and men's track & field teams earned USTFCCCA Team Scholar honor. A total of 20 athletes – 11 women's and 9 men's – combined DSU athletes collected USTFCCCA All-Academic award.
The criteria for achieving the USTFCCCA Team Scholar award, a team must maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.0 on a 4.0 scale for all student-athletes who used a season of eligibility.
For USTFCCCA All-Academic award, an athlete must meet a minimum grade point average of 3.0 and achieved an 'A' or 'B' standard in a championship event during the indoor and/or outdoor season.
The DSU women's track & field team posted a GPA of 3.71, which is the fifth highest GPA in the NAIA. The women's track & field team also posted the best Frontier Conference's team GPA.
The Trojan men's track & field program produced the ninth highest GPA in the NAIA division, posting a team GPA of 3.38. DSU is also second-best in the Frontier Conference in team GPA.
Below is the list of Dakota State athletes that received the USTFCCCA All-Academic Athletes award (name – year – event – hometown – major):
- Solomon Carter – freshman – mid-distance – Leavenworth, Kan. – computer science/cyber operations
- Valerija Curikova – junior – distance – Riga, Latvia – cyber operations
- Caitlin Dyer – senior – mid-distance – Morphettville, South Australia – physical education
- Cody Farland – graduate student – mid-distance – New Underwood, S.D. – master's cyber defense
- Tysen Grinde – junior – jumps/multis – Spring Grove, Minn. – computer science
- Zachary Haugen – graduate student – throws – Bath, S.D. – master's in educational technology
- Franklin Johns – junior – mid-distance – Gordon, Neb. – physical education
- Bella Maxwell – junior – throws – Madison, S.D. – cyber operations
- Mohamed Muse – sophomore – mid-distance – Sioux Falls, S.D. – cyber operations
- Tyler Nicke – junior – mid-distance – Hartington, Neb. – cyber operations
- Casey Olson – senior – multis – Fergus Falls, Minn. – professional accountancy
- Lindsey Roth – senior – mid-distance – Parkston, S.D. – elementary education
- Anna Schneider – junior – mid-distance – Sioux Falls, S.D. – professional accountancy
- Nolan Slominski – junior – mid-distance – Blair, Neb. – cyber operations/computer science
- Amelie Steins – junior – sprints/jumps/multis – Dusseldorf, Germany – integrated biology
- Molli Thornton – junior – sprints/jumps – Hartford, S.D. – integrated biology
- Oliviyah Thornton – junior – throws – Garretson, S.D. – cyber leadership and intelligence/business
- Oliver Tordsen – freshman – throws – Fairmont, Minn. – integrative biology
- RayLee Wallis – senior – sprints – Roseville, Minn. – cyber defense
- Daynica Witzel – freshman – throws/jumps – Baltic, S.D. – business finance
