D2 CCA Scholar-Athletes of the Year
 
CLEVELAND – Colorado School of Mines cross country and track & field star Duncan Fuehne was announced as the Division 2 Conference Commissioners Association's (D2 CCA) 2022-23 national Scholar-Athlete of the Year on Thursday morning. Teammate and fellow graduate student Zoe Baker was named South Central Region Scholar-Athlete of the Year earlier this week.
 
The D2 CCA also voted Fuehne as South Central Region Scholar-Athlete of the Year earlier this week. He earned the regional and national honors on the merit of a 3.98 grade-point average (GPA) as a graduate student in Mines' applied physics program after already earning his bachelor's degree from Colorado School of Mines in engineering physics. Fuehne's counterpart in the national spotlight was Auna Childress of Pittsburg State who was named the 2022-23 D2 CCA Scholar-Athlete of the Year on the women's side. There were a total of 17 regional award winners including Fuehne and Baker.
 
During the 2022-23 season alone, Fuehne stacked up awards on the course, on the track, and in the classroom. In competition, he finished third at the 2022 NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships as Mines' men rolled to the team title. During indoor track & field, Fuehne finished ninth in the nation in the 5,000-meter run. At the DII outdoor track & field championships, the Los Alamos, N.M., native took eighth in the 5K and ninth in the 10,000-meter run for a total of four USTFCCCA All-America honors. Academically, Fuehne was the NCAA Elite 90 winner at the cross country championships. He was also the 2022 RMAC Academic Runner of the Year, USTFCCCA All-Academic, CSC First-Team Academic All-America, and RMAC Men's Scholar-Athlete of the Year. Overall, Fuehne touts five USTFCCA All-America honors and two College Sports Communicators (CSC, formerly known as CoSIDA) Academic All-America awards.
 
Baker's resume for 2022-23 D2 CCA South Central Region Scholar-Athlete of the Year was equally impressive. Already boasting two Mines undergraduate degrees in computer science and computational and applied mathematics, Baker is currently in graduate school working on a master's in computer science. She currently touts an unblemished 4.0 GPA across all three degrees. The Longmont, Colo., native is one of the most decorated student-athletes in Mines history. She is a 13-time all-American and three-time Academic All-American including the 2022 and 2023 Academic All-American of the Year for cross country and track & field. Baker was also one of nine national finalists for the 2022 NCAA Woman of the Year Award and earned her second straight RMAC Women's Scholar-Athlete of the Year honor as well.
 
In 2022-23 alone, Baker ended cross country season an all-American and the NCAA Elite 90 Award winner as she placed 33rd nationally and led Mines to third place as a team. On the track, Baker was a first-team all-American in the indoor 5,000m and outdoor 10,000m as well as a second-teamer in the outdoor 5K; she was a three-time RMAC silver medalist and helped lead Mines' women to their first-ever RMAC indoor team title. Baker was the RMAC Academic Athlete of the Year across all three seasons in 2022-23, and was the Blaster Awards winner as Mines' female academic athlete of the year.
 
Fuehne and Baker are both back for the 2023-24 season at Mines with Fuehne competing in cross country and track & field. Baker will return to competition only for the track & field seasons.
 
Fans can keep up with Mines cross country on Twitter and Instagram at @csmtrack. They can also keep up with Colorado School of Mines Athletics all year long on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the handle @MinesAthletics.