GREENWOOD, Ind. -- College Sports Communicators (CSC) has announced its 2025-26 Men's Track & Field Academic All-America Team, with Missouri S&T's Owen Fraser (Kirksville, MO/Kirksville) becoming the first Miner to be named the CSC NCAA Division II Men's Track & Field Academic All-America Team Member of the Year. Fraser was joined on the First Team by Otto Knittel (Spring Hill, KS/Spring Hill) and Henry Born (Lake Quivira, KS/Shawnee Mission Northwest).

Fraser earned Team Member of the Year honors following another historic season for the Miners. He captured the NCAA Division II Indoor National Championship in the shot put while maintaining a perfect 4.0 grade point average as a mechanical engineering major, earning the NCAA Division II Elite Scholar-Athlete Award along the way. Fraser also became a three-time Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Scholar-Athlete of the Year and a three-time CSC Academic All-American. During the season, he received U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Region honors and was selected as the USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week. Fraser broke multiple school records on his way to winning the national title and helped Missouri S&T climb as high as No. 11 in the national rankings.

Knittel earned First Team Academic All-America honors after an outstanding indoor season in which he collected two NCAA Division II All-America awards. He qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships in both the heptathlon and the distance medley relay, recording top-10 finishes in each event. Knittel earned First Team All-America honors in the distance medley relay alongside Born, Andrew Bacon (Webster Groves, MO/Webster Groves), and Jack Janovick (Spring Hill, KS/Spring Hill) as the quartet placed sixth, the highest finish in the event in program history. He also claimed Second Team All-America honors in the heptathlon with a school-record 5,206 points to finish 10th nationally. Knittel completed his undergrad with a 3.89 GPA in mechanical engineering and currently holds a 4.0 GPA as a graduate student in the same field.

Born also received First Team Academic All-America honors, recognizing his accomplishments in both cross country and track & field. He opened the 2025-26 academic year by placing fourth at the GLVC Cross Country Championships, the highest finish by a Miner in meet history, while also setting a new program record in the 8K. His performance helped Missouri S&T tie the program record at the GLVC Championships with a third-place team finish. Born later placed 26th at the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships, completing the 10K course in 31:30.8. During the indoor track season, he qualified for the NCAA Championships as a member of the distance medley relay team, earning First Team All-America honors while contributing to the program-record sixth-place finish. A mining engineering major, Born carries a perfect 4.0 GPA.

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