NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Five members of the Yale men's cross country and track and field teams were named Academic All-District by College Sports Communicators (CSC) for 2024-25: senior Winslow Atkeson (Denver, Colo.), senior Harry Grindle (London, England), senior Jacob Kao (Acton, Mass.), junior Owen Karas (Columbus, Ohio) and senior Cristian Pereira (Dallas, Texas). The organization announced the awards on Tuesday.
 
Winslow Atkeson
 
Atkeson, an economics major, recently concluded his Yale career with his second appearance at the NCAA East First Round in outdoor track and field. His season-best performance in the steeplechase, 8:51.03, ranked No. 8 in the Northeast region. His PR in that event, 8:49.46 in 2024, ranks him fourth all-time at Yale. His 1500m PR of 3:46.05 from 2024 ranks 14th all-time at Yale. Atkeson competed at each of the Ivy League track and field championships (indoor and outdoor) three times in his career.
 
Atkeson was also a regular scorer for the cross country team, and competed at the Ivy League Heptagonal Cross Country Championships each year of his career. This past season he helped Yale to its best finish at NCAA Regionals in 20 years (fifth), finishing fourth on the team and 45th overall. He earned Academic All-Ivy League recognition for the 2023 cross country season.
 
Atkeson is a graduate of Thacher School.
 
James Grindle
 
Grindle, a political science major, was recently named Academic All-Ivy League. His best 200m times this season are a PR of 21.22 outdoors (17th in the region) and 21.72 indoors. Grindle has also been a key part of Yale's relays throughout his career.
 
Grindle concluded his Yale career at the 2025 Ivy League outdoor championships. That was his fourth straight appearance at that event, and each time he has competed in at least one individual event and one relay. Grindle also competed at the Ivy League indoor championships every year.
 
Grindle is a member of Pi Sigma Alpha, the National Political Science Honors Society. He has earned multiple fellowships at Yale, including the Daniel Merriman - Ted Bensinger Fellowship that enabled him to work on a research project focused on exploring artificial intelligence's impacts on global stability and peacekeeping efforts. He also earned a Richter Fellowship and examined Xi Jinping's model of "Comprehensive National Security".
 
Grindle is a graduate of St. Paul's School.
 
Jacob Kao
 
Kao, a philosophy major and Yale's captain, was also a CSC Academic All-District honoree in 2023-24. He ranks second on Yale's all-time list indoors in the 200m (21.45) and is among Yale's top 10 outdoors in the 100m (10.70) and the 200m (21.32). He also ranks on Yale's top 10 list in multiple relays, including the 4x400m relay indoors and outdoors and the 4x100m relay outdoors. He competed at the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships outdoors four times and indoors three times.
 
Off the track, Kao has worked for the Yale College Dean's Office as a student organizations consultant and for the Yale Undergraduate Office of Admissions and the Yale Visitors Center as a tour guide. He also has been a part of the Yale Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and the Yale Undergraduate Legal Aid Association. 
 
Kao is a graduate of Acton-Boxborough High School.
 
Owen Karas
 
Karas, a psychology major, has already racked up numerous honors with one year of his Yale career still to go. This past year, he set four school records: 

• 1500m outdoors (3:37.52)
• Mile indoors (3:58.37)
• 3K indoors (7:51.68)
• 5K indoors (13:53.27)

 
That helped him earn Yale's James Stack '61 Award as MVP for the 2024-25 track and field season. He also earned Yale's Outstanding Middle-Distance Runner Award in track and field for the second straight season. His 1500m time outdoors this year ranked No. 25 nationally. He has advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals in the 1500m outdoors in each of the last two seasons.
 
Karas was part of Yale's first-place finish in the distance medley relay at the 2025 Ivy League Indoor Championships (9:37.35), earning first team All-Ivy League recognition in the process. He placed second in the 1500m at the 2025 Ivy League Outdoor Championships (3:43.44) to earn second team All-Ivy in that event.
 
Karas' career honors also include All-East in the mile indoors at the 2024 IC4A Indoor Track and Field Championships.
 
Karas has also shined in cross country season, placing 22nd overall as Yale's top finisher this past fall (30:30.48 for the 10K) at the NCAA Cross Country Northeast Regional. He has competed at the Ivy League Heptagonal Cross Country Championships three times, with a best finish of 15th in 2023 (24:31.5 for the 8K).
 
Karas has worked as a care provider at I Am Boundless, working with a blind adult with autism and epilepsy.
 
A 2024 USTFCCCA All-Academic Athlete for track and field, Karas is a graduate of St. Charles.


Cristian Pereira
 
Pereira, an English major, capped his Yale career with a PR of 10.49 in the 100m at the Ivy League Heptagonal Outdoor Track and Field Championships in May. That was his first time competing at outdoor Heps. His time ranks him No. 3 all-time at Yale. He established a PR of 21.65 in the 200m in April. Indoors, Pereira's 60m PR of 6.81 came at the Ivy League Heptagonal Indoor Track and Field Championships in March. Pereira has also been a key part of Yale's relay teams. He has competed at the Ivy League indoor championships twice.
 
Off the track, Pereira worked as a Yale tour guide and a teacher for Splash at Yale, designing and teaching English literature, poetry and fiction writing classes for high school students. He has had multiple internships in finance, most recently in the summer of 2024 at Bank of America.
 
Pereira is a graduate of St. Mark's School.