NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Yale men's track and field team has earned All-Academic Team recognition from the USTFCCCA for 2023-24, and seven Bulldogs – senior Matt Appel (Naperville, Ill.), junior Winslow Atkeson (Denver, Colo.), sophomore Brian Di Bassinga (Haymarket, Va.), sophomore Owen Karas (Columbus, Ohio), sophomore Nolan Recker (Muscatine, Ia.), sophomore Isiah Udofia (Montclair, N.J.) and senior Chris Ward (Cincinnati, Ohio) — have earned All-Academic Athlete honors. The USTFCCCA announced the awards today. 

In order for a team to be named to the All-Academic list, it must have a grade point average above 3.00 for the season. The Bulldogs finished with a GPA of 3.59. 

For an athlete to receive individual honors, for the indoor season they must either have finished ranked in the top 96 in any championship individual event, or in the top 48 in any championship relay event; for the outdoor season they must have competed in any round of the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships or, for the multi-events they must have finished the season ranked in the top 48 in the East or top 48 in the West. They must also have completed at least two semesters or three quarters while maintaining at least a 3.25 GPA.
This is Appel's third straight year earning this award. An ecology and evolutionary biology major, he has earned multiple other academic honors as well. He was named a CSC Academic All-District honoree in June, his second time earning that award. 
 
One of the best throwers in school history, Appel set Yale records for the shot put indoors (60' 2.5") and the discus outdoors (195' 8"). He ranks No. 3 all-time at Yale in the weight throw indoors (64' 9.75") and in the shot put outdoors (59' 5"). He is 15th all-time in the hammer throw outdoors (180' 1"). 
 
Appel was an honorable mention USTFCCCA All-American in the discus in 2022, competing at the NCAA Championships. He competed at the NCAA East First Round meet in the discus each of the past three years. He was the 2023 Ivy League discus champion, earning first team All-Ivy in the process. He was second team All-Ivy in the shot put indoors in 2022-23. 
 
Appel was the men's track and field team captain this past year, and he earned the team's Outstanding Thrower Award for each of the last three seasons. In 2022-23 he earned the James Stack '61 Award as team MVP. He has competed at the Ivy League championships three times indoors and outdoors.
 
Appel is a graduate of Neuqua Valley High School. 
 
Atkeson, a philosophy major, earned this same honor last year and was an Academic All-Ivy League selection this past fall for cross country season. This year he broke the four-minute barrier in the mile, running 3:59.39 indoors to rank third all-time at Yale. He also holds the seventh-fastest 5K time indoors (14:14.85) and the ninth-fastest 1000m time indoors (2:24.37) at Yale.

Atkeson has qualified for the NCAA East First Round meet in the steeplechase in each of the past two seasons, though he was unable to compete this year. In Yale's outdoor record book, he ranks fourth all-time in the steeplechase (8:49.46) and 14th all-time in the 1500m (3:46.05).

In 2022-23 Atkeson reached the finals in the mile at Indoor Heps and earned Yale's Outstanding Distance Runner Award. He has competed at the Ivy League championships in cross country three times and indoor track and field and outdoor track and field twice.
 
A native of Denver, Colo., Atkeson is a graduate of The Thacher School.
Di Bassinga, a computer science major, continued to progress in his second season with the Bulldogs. He earned a spot in the NCAA East First Round meet outdoors. His triple jump marks of 50' 6.25" outdoors and 50' 2" indoors both rank second all-time at Yale. He finished third in the event at Heps indoors and outdoors – his second straight season finishing in the league's top four at both meets. In 2022-23 he earned a pair of team awards, including Outstanding Jumper and Outstanding Newcomer. He has competed at the Ivy League championships twice indoors and twice outdoors.

Di Bassinga has worked in software development, creating a web application to support Yale's intramural sports operations. He also sings for the Unorthojocks, a Yale varsity student-athlete a cappella group.

Di Bassinga is a graduate of Battlefield High School. In high school he was co-founder and co-president of Culturally Aware and Responsive Students, designed to improve the experience of students from marginalized groups.
Karas earned Yale's Outstanding Middle-Distance Runner Award this past year. His 1500 meter success has been noteworthy, and his time of 3:40.80 outdoors ranks second all-time at Yale. His time of 4:03.12 indoors ranks ninth. He also was part of a 4x800m relay outdoors that ranks third all-time at Yale. His 3K time of 8:08.82 indoors ranks 10th all-time at Yale.

Karas earned All-East honors in the mile indoors this past season for finishing second at the IC4A meet in March. He has competed at the Ivy League championships twice in cross country and outdoor track and field and once in indoor track and field.

Karas is a graduate of St. Charles Preparatory School. He worked as Director of Media for the Kisumu Neuroscience Initiative in Columbus, Ohio. He also has worked as a care provider for a blind adult with autism and epilepsy. 
Recker, an economics major, broke the school record for the weight throw indoors (66' 10.75") this past season. During the outdoor season he placed third on Yale's all-time list in the hammer throw (191' 1") and eighth on Yale's all-time list in the discus throw (173' 5"). 

Recker has competed at the Ivy League championships twice indoors and twice outdoors.

Recker is a member of Yale Undergraduate Diversified Investments. He is a graduate of Muscatine High School.
Udofia, a cognitive science major with a concentration in neurocognitive computation, earned a pair of major team awards this season – Yale's James Stack '61 Award as MVP and the team's Outstanding Jumper Award. He established his long jump PR at Outdoor Heps, jumping 25' 1.75" to place second and earn second team All-Ivy League recognition. That mark ranks third all-time at Yale. He went on to compete at the NCAA East First Round meet for the first time. He has competed at the Ivy League championships twice indoors and twice outdoors.

Udofia's indoor long jump mark of 24' 6.5" ranks fourth all-time at Yale. He also has contributed on the track, including a 100m time of 10.73 indoors that ranks 13th all-time at Yale. He has been a part of two 400m/440y relay teams that rank in Yale's top 11 all-time.

Udofia is a graduate of Montclair Kimberley Academy. He has worked as a math tutor and interned at Bain & Company. He is a member of the Yale Digital Music Collective.
Ward, a mechanical engineering major, has earned multiple academic honors this year – he was named a CSC Academic All-District honoree in June. He competed at the NCAA East First Round Meet in May. He finished his career ranked second on Yale's all-time list in the shot put outdoors (59' 7.75") and fourth on Yale's all-time list in the shot put indoors (56' 4.75"). He is also on the school's outdoor top 10 list in the discus throw (fifth, 178' 7"). He earned the team's Most Improved Athlete Award this year.

Ward competed at the Ivy League Outdoor Championships three times and the Ivy League Indoor Championships two times in his career, earning a pair of top-five finishes. That included a second-place finish in the shot put indoors in 2023 that earned him second team All-Ivy League recognition. He was also second in the shot put at the 2023 indoor ECAC Championships meet, earning All-East recognition. 

Ward worked as an undergraduate research assistant with the Yale Nanoprobe Group. He was inducted into the Yale chapter of Tau Beta Pi, the national engineering honor society, in 2022.

Ward is a graduate of Turpin High School.