Rabbit Barnes capped his decorated career at Colorado College by being named the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Man of the Year in a ballot of the league's senior woman administrators.
 
The SCAC's most prestigious annual award recognizes the conference's senior male student-athlete who has best distinguished himself throughout his collegiate career in the areas of academic achievement, athletic excellence, service and leadership.
 
Barnes, a two-time All-American on the men's cross country and track & field teams, compiled a 3.97 grade-point average and graduated in May with a bachelor's degree in neuroscience. Earlier this week, he earned a spot on the CSC Academic All-America First Team for the second consecutive year and he will be nominated for the fifth annual Division III Commissioner's Association (DIIICA) Student-Athlete of the Year award.

"Rabbit had a remarkable year at the national level and this is a well-deserved honor," Vice President and Director of Athletics Lesley Irvine said. "He will go down as one of the best CC runners in history. Rabbit was also a committed captain and excelled in the classroom impacting far beyond his records. We are really proud of him." 
 
Barnes is the sixth Colorado College student-athlete to be honored in the 14-year history of the award, joining inaugural recipient Nick Lammers (2013), Kaleb Roush (2014), Soren Frykholm (2017), Cole Thumann (2022) and James Settles (2024) on the exclusive list, and five more than any other school in the conference. The recognition was created prior to the 2012-13 academic year and is announced annually in conjunction with the league's Woman of the Year award.

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 and was named the 2026 West Region Indoor Track Athlete 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.
 
"We are so proud of Rabbit for earning this achievement," Colorado College track and field head coach Katie Bretscher said. "He was leader in the classroom as well for our men's xc and track and field programs. Rabbit did not have the opportunity to participate in track and field at the high school level, but throughout his four years at CC, he became one of the most accomplished track and field athletes in SCAC history." 
 
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. 
 
He was very active in the community during his four years at CC, which included serving as a volunteer for Monument Creek trash cleanup, Golden Lotus Asian Heritage Community, Labor Day Liftoff and a local elementary school creating lesson plans with the neuroscience department.