Colorado College recent graduate Rabbit Barnes earned yet another national honor as he was named to the Academic All-America Track & Field/Cross Country First-Team for the second consecutive year by College Sports Communicators.
 
Barnes, one of four Division III athletes to repeat as a first-team selection, is one of only two members of CC's men's track & field or cross country programs to receive the national academic award since it began in 1952. James Settles was a second-team selection in 2023 and a first-team pick in '24.
 
A native of Los Olivos, Calif., Barnes graduated in May with a 3.97 cumulative grade-point average, earning his bachelor's degree in neuroscience. He is the ninth athlete in Colorado College history to earn Academic All-America honors twice.
 
Barnes became Colorado College's first male track athlete to garner Indoor All-America honors with a second-place finish in the mile final at the 2026 NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships. He finished the race with a time of 4:14.39, just .38 of a second behind the national champion.
 
He was named the 2026 West Region Indoor Track Athlete of the Year and is a finalist for the SCAC Man of the Year.
 
At the 2026 SCAC Track and Field Championships, Barnes became just the second runner in conference history to win the conference's 1,500-meter race four times, winning with a time of 4:00.87 and joining Chass Armstrong of Trinity (2007-10) as the only four-time winners of that race.
 
Barnes helped CC win its seventh straight SCAC cross country team title last fall and garnered all-SCAC honors with a second-place finish at the SCAC Championships, then finished 16^th at the West Region meet and 110^th at the NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships.
 
"Rabbit is very deserving of this prestigious award," Colorado College track and field head coach Katie Bretscher said. " He competed at such a high level on the track and excelled in the classroom. The fact that he won this award twice puts him in elite company." 
 
Barnes was named a co-winner of CC's Van Diest Award, given to the most outstanding senior male student-athlete who demonstrates excellence in athletics, academics, leadership and college contribution.