By: Cory Guinn, External Communications Assistant

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – CSU Pueblo forward Nick Cenek has been named the 2026 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Men’s Soccer Academic Player of the Year, the conference announced Friday. Cenek leads a 14-member First Team Academic All-RMAC roster as selected by the league’s athletic communication directors.

Cenek, a Peoria, Illinois, native, continues to add awards to an outstanding 2026 campaign, earning Academic Player of the Year honors for his classroom and on-the-pitch accomplishments. The fifth-year forward boasts a perfect 4.00 GPA in Business Administration.

On the pitch, Cenek was named First Team All-RMAC earlier this month and is one of the RMAC's most dangerous attacking players. He currently has 11 goals and four assists for 26 total points, helping CSU Pueblo produce 40 goals through its first 17 matches. Cenek also leads the Pack with five game-winning goals and has recorded four multi-goal performances, guiding CSU Pueblo to an NCAA Division II Tournament as the No. 3 seed in Super Region 4

Cenek leads a 15-member First Team Academic All-RMAC group, with eight of the conference’s 11 men’s soccer-sponsoring institutions represented. Jan Grillitsch of Regis was the only returner from last year’s Academic All-RMAC roster.

Jacobo Betancourt-Tovar (Regis), Jonah Elstad (Colorado Mesa), Owen Gallo (Westminster), Oliver Olsen (Westminster), and Dalton Uehling (UCCS) all moved up from last year's Honor Roll to this year's First Team. In addition, the RMAC recognized 118 student-athletes, including the 14 First Team Academic All-RMAC honorees, on its 2026 Men’s Soccer Academic Honor Roll.

The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Academic Honor Roll recognizes student-athletes in each conference-sponsored sport who academically maintain at least a 3.30 cumulative grade-point average, have completed two consecutive semesters at their current institution, and have used a season of competition.

Each institution’s athletic communications directors nominate student-athletes who academically maintain at least a 3.50 cumulative grade point average, along with the other criteria for the Academic Honor Roll, for recognition on the First Team Academic All-RMAC in each sport. The league’s athletic communications directors for that sport vote to compose the First Team Academic All-RMAC and select the Academic Player of the Year. They are not permitted to vote for their own student-athletes.  
 

2026 First Team Academic All-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference
(as selected by RMAC athletics communications directors)
Student-Athlete	School	Class	Pos	GPA	Major	Hometown
Nathan Beck	Colorado Mesa	Sr.	GK	3.95	Ecology	Glen Carbon, Ill
Markus Beck	MSU Denver	So.	MF	3.96	Exercise Science	Scottsdale, Ariz.
Jacobo Betancourt-Tovar (HM)	Regis	Sr.	MF	3.50	Finance	Frisco, Texas
Raul Baptista Filipe	Fort Lewis	Jr.	MF	3.78	Business Administration	Santa Maria de Feira, Portugal
Nick Cenek	CSU Pueblo	5th	F	4.00	Business Administration	Peoria, Ill.
Ben Christian Wittenbernds	Regis	So.	D	4.00	Business Administration	Rheine, Germany
Jonah Elstad (HM)	Colorado Mesa	Sr.	D	3.86	Business Management	Westminster, Colo.
Jan Grillitsch (1)	Regis	Jr.	MF	3.89	Philosophy	Allerheiligen, Austria
Even Henriksen	South Dakota Mines	So.	D	4.00	Mechanical Engineering	Skien, Norway
Zach Jennings	Regis	So.	GK	4.00	Business Administration	Norman, Okla.
Owen Gallo (HM)	Westminster	Sr.	MF	3.74	International Business	Breckenridge, Colo.
Oliver Olsen (HM)	Westminster	So.	GK	3.98	Psychology	Bozeman, Mont.
Dalton Uehling (HM)	UCCS	Sr.	MF	3.90	Business	Colorado Springs, Colo.
Cole Wearner	UCCS	So.	F	3.94	Business	Centennial, Colo.
Notes: 1) indicates the student-athlete was a 2025 First-Team Academic All-RMAC honoree. (HM) indicates the student-athlete was a 2025 Academic All-RMAC Honor Roll honoree.

About the RMAC
The RMAC is a premier NCAA Division II conference located in Colorado Springs, Colo., with 15 member institutions. The RMAC sponsors 22 varsity NCAA sports and has produced 65 NCAA Division II national champions and 54 national runners-up since 1992.