NEW ORLEANS – The Southwest Minnesota State University women's and men's track & field teams, along with women's student-athletes, Nadia Sanford and Christine Sleeter, and men's track & field athlete, Deekon Anvid, were honored by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) for their work in the classroom during the 2024-25 academic year.
 
Both the SMSU women's and men's teams earned USTFCCA Division II All-Academic status with the women's team finishing the academic year with a cumulative GPA of 3.60, while the men's team closed with a GPA of 3.0. The SMSU women's team had four student-athletes, while the men's team had one, earn College Sports Communicators (CSC) Academic All-District honors last month, while 21 combined members of the teams were named Academic All-NSIC for indoor/outdoor track & field.
 
Sanford, Sleeter and Anvid were all named an USTFCCCA All-Academic Athlete. To qualify, athletes must have a cumulative GPA of 3.25 and must have finished the season among the top 50 individuals as listed on the descending order lists on TFRRS.
           
Sanford, a physical education/health teaching major from Oak Grove, Minn., was a five-year member the track & field team and eight-time Academic All-NSIC honoree. Last month she was named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District for the third straight year. Sanford earned All-NSIC honors in the shot put at the 2025 NSIC Indoor Championships with a second-place toss of 13.54m.
 
Sleeter, a physical education major from Suring, Wis., is a two-year member of the track & field team and earned Academic All-NSIC honors during both the indoor and outdoor seasons in 2025.
 
Anvid, a native of Culver, Minn., and a four-year member of the program, was named CSC Academic All-District last month for the second time in his career. 
 
It's the sixth straight season the SMSU women's team has earned the honor during Kirk Nauman's six seasons as head coach.