Five TU Men’s Cross Country, Track Athletes Receive Academic All-District Accolades
UPLAND, Ind. – The Taylor men's track & field and cross country teams earned a maximum-five CSC Academic All-District honors from the 2024-25 seasons, as announced Tuesday by College Sports Communicators.
Track athletes Braden Bixler and Lextin Willis collected the honor for the first time, as did Joel Mumaw. Ryan Hanak and Josh Forbes were each selected to the CSC Academic All-District teams for the second time in their careers.
Bixler capped his track career at Taylor by snatching All-Crossroads League honors in the 400-meter hurdles during the outdoor season, an event in which he qualified for NAIA Nationals but was sidelined due to injury. The senior also helped the 4x400-meter relay squad to a pair of victories during the indoor season, and he won the 400-meter hurdles at the IWU Polar Bear Invitational. Bixler posted a 3.66 GPA in the classroom as a marketing and management major.
Willis has achieved perfection in his sport management studies with a 4.00 GPA. The South Bend, Indiana, native collected three of the Trojans' top four times in the indoor 600-meters, while he was the team's second best performer in the 400-meters during the outdoor season.
Mumaw, a biology health sciences major with a 3.93 GPA, was a participant at all three of the NAIA Cross Country, Indoor Track and Outdoor Track National Championships in 2024-2025, highlighted by his top-100 showing at the 2024 Cross Country National Championship where he helped the Trojans finish eighth. The junior was named All-Crossroads League in cross country and the indoor mile, and he was a key member of the distance-medley relay team that advanced to Nationals during the indoor season.
Hanak earned CSC Academic All-District honors for the second time after career seasons in both cross country and track. The Hebron, Kentucky, native logged TU cross country's top time of the season at the NAIA Great Lakes Challenge, and he finished 45th at the National Championships, placing second on the team. An All-Crossroads League honoree in cross country and indoor track, Hanak claimed NAIA All-American status in both the indoor 3,000-meters and outdoor 5,000-meters, finishing top-five in the nation in those events. The junior has also kept up an impressive 3.73 GPA as a computer science – cybersecurity major.
Forbes, a 2024 CSC First-Team Academic All-American, finished his junior pole vaulting season with a fourth-place All-American finish at the NAIA Outdoor National Championships. He won a pole vaulting event during both the indoor and outdoor seasons, after which he earned Crossroads League Field Athlete of the Week honors on both occasions. Forbes' status as one of the NAIA's top pole vaulters has not hindered his academic success, as he boasts a 3.87 GPA in his computer science studies.
The 2025 CSC Academic All-District men's track & field and cross country teams, selected by each institution's sports information department, recognize the nation's top student-athletes for their performances on the track, in the field and in the classroom. To be considered for the award, student-athletes must hold a minimum 3.50 GPA, achieve sophomore academic status and reach certain performance thresholds in their respective track events or cross-country races.
Forbes, Hanak and Mumaw have advanced to the Academic All-America national ballot to be voted on by members of the CSC, with the men's results set to be announced on July 16.