Wayne State College junior thrower Jaxson Ninete has been named to the 2025-26 Academic All-America Men's Track & Field/Cross Country team as selected by College Sports Communicators, earning Third Team honors.  A graduate of Elkhorn High School, Ninete is the seventh athlete in school history to be named Academic All-American and the first since Gabe Peitz was a Third Team selection in the 2023-24 season.
            Ninete maintained a 3.96 grade point average majoring in history.  On the track, he was the NSIC champion and an NCAA Division II national qualifier in the hammer throw during the outdoor season.  Ninete had a winning mark of 191' 9" to earn NSIC champion honors in the hammer throw and had a career-best mark of 204' 2" at the Tim Marshall Open in Mankato May 2^nd.  He also earned a fifth-place medal in the discus at 156' 10".  In the indoor season, Ninete collected All-NSIC honors thanks to a second-place finish in the weight throw at 62' 3".
            Ninete was a CSC Academic All-District Team selection for a second straight year and was repeat NSIC All-Academic Team of Excellence for his work in the classroom.  He is the fifth Wildcat student-athlete in the 2025-26 school year to earn Academic All-American honors, joining football players Jes Krcil (First Team) and Alex Kowalczyk (Second Team), baseball player Nate Cunningham (First Team) and women's golfer Saffire Sayre (First Team).