NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Senior
Owen Karas (Columbus, Ohio) of the Yale men's cross country and track and field teams has been named Academic All-America by College Sports Communicators (CSC) for 2025-26. The organization announced the awards on Tuesday. Karas made the second team for the second year in a row.
Karas, a psychology major, recently capped a record-setting career. In cross country this past season he was Yale's top finisher at the NCAA Northeast Regional, placing 11th overall (29:27.2) and earning a spot in the NCAA Championships. He earned all-region honors for the second year in a row and was first team All-Ivy League, along with earning the cross country team's John Cleary '54, Mike Stanley '54 Award as MVP.
In track and field this past year, Karas set a pair of school records:
- 5K indoors (13:51.46)
- 5K outdoors (13:47.74)
He graduates with three other school records as well, all set in 2025:
- 1500m outdoors (3:37.52)
- Mile indoors (3:58.37)
- 3K indoors (7:51.68)
Indoors this past season, Karas ranked in the top 20 regionally in both the mile (4:02.33, 16th) and the 5K (13:51.46, 19th). Outdoors, he ranked in the top 15 regionally in both the 5K (13:47.74, 11th) and the 1500m (3:41.93, 13th). He competed at the NCAA East First Round in the 5K and won two track and field team awards for the second year in a row: MVP and Outstanding Middle Distance Runner (he also was named Outstanding Middle Distance Runner in 2023-24). He earned bronze in the mile at the Ivy indoor championships.
Karas' NCAA experience also includes advancing to the NCAA Quarterfinals in the 1500m outdoors in 2024 and 2025.
Karas has earned multiple All-Ivy honors in his career. He 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 earning All-East in the mile indoors at the 2024 IC4A Indoor Track and Field Championships.
Karas' academic honors include being named second team CSC Academic All-America in 2024-25. He was named CSC Academic All-District in 2024-25 and this year; Academic All-Ivy League for cross country in 2025; and USTFCCCA All-Academic Athlete for cross country in 2024 and 2025 and track and field in 2023-24 and 2024-25.
Karas has worked as a care provider at I Am Boundless, supporting a blind adult with autism and epilepsy. He is a graduate of St. Charles.
