Erickson, Ross Headline Ducks’ Academic All-Americans
07/21/25 | Cross Country, Track and Field
First-team selections Matthew Erickson and Jaida Ross are two of Oregon’s seven honorees.
EUGENE, Ore. – Seven members of the Oregon track and field team have earned spots on the 2024-25 College Sports Communications (CSC) Academic All-America Team, a program-record haul for a single season. Jaida Ross and Klaudia Kazimierska were repeat selections from a season ago and NCAA indoor champion Matthew Erickson was named a first-team honoree.
The men's and women's all-academic teams were announced last week.
Along with first teamers Ross and Erickson, the Academic All-America Third Team includes Kazimierska, Simeon Birnbaum, Wilma Nielsen, Ryann Porter and Safin Wills. Collectively, the Oregon track and field program now has 69 Academic All-America certificates spread among 46 student-athletes.
The Ducks' previous high for Academic All-Americans in a single season was three, a figure they reached 10 times before and most recently in 2021. Prior to the 2021-22 season, track and field was part of the at-large selection process before the sport got its own category.
Ross, the 2025 Big Ten and NCAA indoor runner-up in the shot put, becomes the sixth UO woman with multiple first-team accolades and the first since Carmela Cardama Baez in 2020 and 2021. That short list also features Kathy Hayes (1983, '84, '85), Kelly Blair (1993, '94), Jordan Hasay (2011, 12', '13) and Anne Kesselring (2012, '13).
Kazimierska is now a two-time selection coupled with her second-team honors in 2024.
Along with Erickson, Nielsen also won an NCAA indoor title this past season with her victory in the mile. Erickson is the UO man to land on the Academic All-America First Team since James West in 2020.
Five of the seven UO scholars won a Big Ten title in 2025: Birnbaum (5,000), Erickson (800i), Kazimierska (800), Nielsen (mile, DMR) and Porter (triple jump). Wills, the Big Ten runner-up in the triple jump, was a double NCAA qualifier in the horizontal jumps.
Among the requirements need to, first, become academic all-district performers, student-athletes must carry a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.50 and be a significant contributor to the team.
For more news and information about Oregon cross country and track and field, follow @OregonTF on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
The men's and women's all-academic teams were announced last week.
Along with first teamers Ross and Erickson, the Academic All-America Third Team includes Kazimierska, Simeon Birnbaum, Wilma Nielsen, Ryann Porter and Safin Wills. Collectively, the Oregon track and field program now has 69 Academic All-America certificates spread among 46 student-athletes.
The Ducks' previous high for Academic All-Americans in a single season was three, a figure they reached 10 times before and most recently in 2021. Prior to the 2021-22 season, track and field was part of the at-large selection process before the sport got its own category.
Ross, the 2025 Big Ten and NCAA indoor runner-up in the shot put, becomes the sixth UO woman with multiple first-team accolades and the first since Carmela Cardama Baez in 2020 and 2021. That short list also features Kathy Hayes (1983, '84, '85), Kelly Blair (1993, '94), Jordan Hasay (2011, 12', '13) and Anne Kesselring (2012, '13).
Kazimierska is now a two-time selection coupled with her second-team honors in 2024.
Along with Erickson, Nielsen also won an NCAA indoor title this past season with her victory in the mile. Erickson is the UO man to land on the Academic All-America First Team since James West in 2020.
Five of the seven UO scholars won a Big Ten title in 2025: Birnbaum (5,000), Erickson (800i), Kazimierska (800), Nielsen (mile, DMR) and Porter (triple jump). Wills, the Big Ten runner-up in the triple jump, was a double NCAA qualifier in the horizontal jumps.
Among the requirements need to, first, become academic all-district performers, student-athletes must carry a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.50 and be a significant contributor to the team.
For more news and information about Oregon cross country and track and field, follow @OregonTF on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Players Mentioned
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Distance
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Jumps
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