Contact: Taiah Gallisath, Associate Director of Athletics Communications, 630-637-5302
 
USTFCCCA All-Academic Individuals
USTFCCCA All-Academic Teams
 
July 20, 2026 – The North Central College men's track and field team capped a successful 2025-26 season in the classroom and on the track with 12 student-athletes earning United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Academic Individual honors. The Cardinals also received USTFCCCA All-Academic Team recognition.

To qualify for USTFCCCA All-Academic Individual honors, student-athletes must compile a cumulative grade-point average of at least 3.30 and either qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships or finish the season ranked among the nation's top 50 in an individual event or top 35 in a relay event.

North Central earned All-Academic Team recognition after posting a 3.21 cumulative team GPA. It marks the program's 11th All-Academic Team honor in the past 12 seasons.

Jayden Leise earned All-Academic honors for the third consecutive year, while BJ Sorg, Ben Balboa, and Oscar Frontjes each received the distinction for the second time. Brayden Groenenboom, Daniel Kasperan, Jacob Kluckhohn, Alexander Knight, Gabe Parker, Tyler Schick, Will Splant, and Dakota White all earned the honor for the first time.

Leise, a junior marketing major, received his third All-Academic honor after ranking among the nation's top 30 in the triple jump during both the indoor and outdoor seasons. He captured the CCIW outdoor triple jump title and earned three All-College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) honors in the indoor triple jump, indoor long jump, and outdoor long jump.

Sorg, an environmental studies major, claimed his second track and field All-Academic honor after also earning USTFCCCA All-Academic recognition in cross country earlier this year. He qualified for both the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships, finishing the season ranked eighth nationally in the indoor 5,000 meters and sixth in the outdoor 10,000 meters. Sorg also ranked among the nation's top 50 in the indoor 3,000 meters and outdoor 5,000 meters. He won CCIW titles in the indoor mile and distance medley relay before adding All-CCIW honors in the outdoor 10,000 meters. Groenenboom and Splant, both exercise science majors, also earned All-Academic honors as members of North Central's nationally ranked distance medley relay.
Balboa, a health science major, became a two-time All-Academic honoree after a standout season that included breaking the school record in the discus with a throw of 177 feet, 5 inches. His mark ranked fifth in NCAA Division III and earned him his first trip to the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Balboa also collected four All-CCIW honors across the indoor and outdoor conference championships.

Kasperan, a freshman entrepreneurship major, finished the outdoor season ranked among the nation's top 50 in both the 5,000 and 10,000 meters. He placed second in the indoor 5,000 meters at the CCIW Championships before winning the conference title in the event during the outdoor season.

Schick, a sophomore exercise science major, earned his first All-Academic honor after finishing the outdoor season ranked among the nation's top 40 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. He earned All-CCIW honors in the indoor 3,000 meters before recording a runner-up finish in the steeplechase and another All-CCIW performance in the outdoor 5,000 meters.

Knight, an exercise science major, received his first All-Academic honor following a strong season in the sprint events. He helped North Central win the CCIW title in the 4-by-100-meter relay and added three more All-CCIW honors in individual events during the indoor and outdoor seasons.

Parker, a management major, and White, an engineering major, each earned All-Academic honors for the first time. Parker, who competed in the pole vault and sprint events, earned six All-CCIW honors during the indoor and outdoor seasons. White excelled in the middle-distance events, recording runner-up finishes in the 800 meters at both the indoor and outdoor CCIW Championships.

Frontjes, a physics major, earned his second USTFCCCA All-Academic honor in track and field after also receiving the distinction in cross country earlier this year. Kluckhohn, an MBA graduate student, added his first track and field All-Academic honor after being recognized in cross country earlier this year. He also earned All-CCIW honors in the indoor 3,000 meters and outdoor 5,000 meters.