By: Cody Bush, Associate Commissioner / Strategic Communications
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Colorado Mesa University sophomore Ben Vester is the 2025-26 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Academic Player of the Year, leading a 16-member First Team Academic All-RMAC Team as selected by the league’s athletic communication directors.
Vester earns the league’s top academic honor in men’s swimming and diving after entering the season with a 3.80 grade-point average as a construction management major at Colorado Mesa.
In the pool, the Stuttgart, Germany, native won gold medals in both the 200- and 400-yard individual medley relays and was a member of the Mavericks’ gold-medal 800-yard freestyle relay team at the 2026 RMAC Swimming & Diving Championships. He earned First Team All-American honors in each of those three events at the 2026 NCAA Division II Men’s Swimming & Diving Championships, with the 800 freestyle relay team finishing third while he finished sixth in the 400 individual medley and eighth in the 200 individual medley.
The 16-member First Team Academic All-RMAC group saw a bevy of newcomers, with Colorado School of Mines juniors Lucas Hoke and Joseph Lev-Tov each making their second appearance on the team.
In addition, the RMAC recognized 41 student-athletes, including the 16 First Team Academic All-RMAC honorees, on its 2025-26 Men’s Swimming & Diving 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.
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2025-26 Men’s Swimming & Diving
First Team Academic All-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference
|
| (as selected by RMAC athletics communications directors) |
| Student-Athlete |
School |
Class |
GPA |
Major |
Hometown |
| Ben Vester |
Colorado Mesa |
So. |
3.80 |
Construction Management |
Stuttgart, Germany |
| Chase Alderman |
UT Permian Basin |
Jr. |
3.56 |
Exercise Science |
Spring, Texas |
| Tommy Betancour |
UT Permian Basin |
Jr. |
3.83 |
Finance |
Corpus Christi, Texas |
| Holden Convertino |
Colorado Mesa |
Jr. |
3.74 |
Biological Sciences |
El Paso, Texas |
| Colin Doyle |
UT Permian Basin |
Jr. |
3.79 |
Mathematics |
San Antonio, Texas |
| Caleb Dutton |
Colorado Mesa |
RJr. |
3.93 |
Construction Management |
St. Petersburg, Fla. |
| Conrad Fawcett |
Colorado Mesa |
So. |
3.90 |
Business Administration |
Anchorage, Alaska |
| Niklas Heelein |
UT Permian Basin |
Sr. |
3.66 |
Biology |
Eschborn, Germany |
| Lucas Hoke (1) |
Colorado School of Mines |
Jr. |
3.95 |
Computer Science |
Spring, Texas |
| Joseph Lev-Tov (1) |
Colorado School of Mines |
Jr. |
4.00 |
Electrical Engineering |
Boulder, Colo. |
| Cameron MacMillan |
Colorado School of Mines |
So. |
3.92 |
Electrical Engineering |
Columbia, Md. |
| Jackson Moe |
Colorado Mesa |
Sr. |
3.74 |
Exercise Science |
Missoula, Mont. |
| Miles Moran |
Colorado Mesa |
So. |
3.90 |
Business Administration |
Salt Lake City, Utah |
| Lucas Motley |
Colorado Mesa |
Jr. |
3.74 |
Biological Sciences |
Montrose, Colo. |
| Richard Schmiedefeld |
Colorado Mesa |
So. |
3.52 |
Business Administration |
Stuttgart, Germany |
| Deven Walters |
Adams State |
So. |
3.86 |
Chemistry |
Cave Creek, Ariz. |
| Gold background indicates RMAC Academic Player of the Year. A (1) indicates the student-athlete was a 2024-25 First Team Academic All-RMAC honoree, and a 3x indicates the student-athlete is a three-time First Team Academic All-RMAC selection. |
About the RMAC
The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, headquartered in Colorado Springs, is a premier NCAA Division II conference with 15 institutions located in Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Dakota, and Utah. The RMAC currently competes in 22 NCAA Division II sports and has earned 71 national championships and 53 national runners-up since 1992. Founded in 1909, the RMAC is the most historic athletic conference in the western United States and Division II.
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