It’s a special edition of the Coloradoan’s Athlete of the Week series, partnering with Blue Federal Credit Union to honor our top local sports stars.
This version features former high school athletes who are doing big things at the collegiate level.
This week’s poll? Vote for the athlete who played boys high school sports in the Fort Collins area and had the best men’s collegiate season in the 2025-26 school year.
And there were plenty of local products excelling in a big way, including numerous All Americans and all-conference standouts across more than half a dozen sports.
You can find the poll at the bottom of the page.
Voting runs through July 20 at 11:59 p.m., with the winner announced at coloradoan.com/sports soon after the poll’s conclusion.
Here are the 10 nominees for the top 2025-26 men’s college athlete from Fort Collins:
Meet the top men’s college sports nominees:
- Jackson Dale (Poudre/PSD), Taylor University lacrosse: NAIA All-American, leading country with 66 assists. Set school-record with 111 points that included 45 goals. Finished as school’s career leader with 104 goals.
- Jake Eccleston (Windsor), Louisville swimming: 2nd team All-American in 200-yard breaststroke and 400 medley relay, helping Cardinals finish 14th in Division I championships. Won three races during standout sophomore season.
- Brock Mishak (Fossil Ridge), West Texas A&M basketball: 2nd team All-Lone Star Conference guard, helping Buffs win 20 games. Averaged 14.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game on 47% shooting.
- Mikey Munn (Windsor), South Dakota football: 2nd team FCS All-American at cornerback, helping South Dakota make FCS quarterfinals. 1st team all-conference with 5 interceptions (tied 2nd in FCS) and 2 TDs, plus added 59 tackles and 10 pass break-ups.
- Banks Norby (Poudre), Western Wyoming wrestling: Runner-up at 165 pounds in NJCAA national championships. One of country’s top junior college wrestlers, leading Western Wyoming to 2nd place team finish at nationals.
- Sam Pease (Fossil Ridge), Northern Colorado baseball: 2nd team All-Summit League catcher for the Bears. Started 36 games, hitting .319 with 3 HRs, 25 RBIs and a .978 fielding percentage behind the plate in nearby Greeley.
- Merek Ranstrom (Liberty Common), South Dakota Mines track: All-RMAC first team performer in his junior season, winning the league’s 400-meter hurdles and taking second place in the 110 hurdles.
- Blake Smotherman (Fort Collins), Colorado School of Mines football: Finished career strong with 2nd team All-RMAC selection. Caught career-high 21 passes for 218 yards and 3 TDs and was key blocker at tight end for strong rushing attack.
- Jones Thomas (Poudre), Wyoming football: Former Impala keeps making Division I impact up in Laramie. Started 11 games, recording 2 INTs with a TD return and four pass-breakups. Was top-five on team with 59 total tackles.
- Will Vasseur (Rocky Mountain), UC-Santa Barbara baseball: Transfer made huge impact for the Gauchos as 1st team All-Big West infielder, Started over 50 games for UCSB, hitting .322 with 3 HRs with 32 RBIs and was named to All-Regional team in Texas regional.
Vote here:
Chris Abshire covers high school and community sports for the Coloradoan.
This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Poll: Vote for the top men’s college athlete from Fort Collins area
