Sam Vargas (Hartland, Wis./Arrowhead) from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Men's Track team was named to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-American Third Team in a release by the CSC on Tuesday afternoon.

Vargas, an academic junior in the Human Performance program at UW-Whitewater, has a cumulative grade point average of a 4.00. In the classroom, Vargas received the College of Business Education Minority Business Scholarship and earned the track team's Highest GPA award the past two seasons. 

On the UWW campus, Vargas is an active member in Enactus, a social entrepreneurship campus organization, and ACTIVE, a physical education student organization.

On the track, Vargas collected his third and fourth All-American performances, placing 8th in the 60m at the NCAA Division III Indoor National Championship, and as a member of the 5th-place Warhawk 4x100 relay team in the NCAA DIII Outdoor National Championship. Last year, Vargas earned two All-American recognitions in the 2025 Outdoor National Championship, finishing 8th in the 200m, and 8th on the 4x100 relay team. 

Vargas earned All-Conference recognition from the WIAC this season in the Indoor 200m, finishing 2nd overall, and the Outdoor 100m, finishing 3rd overall with the second best time in Warhawk history at a 10.40. 

The CSC Academic All-American teams recognize the nation's top student-athletes for their combined performances on the court and in the classroom. To be eligible, the student-athlete must first be selected to the Academic All-District team. Then the top qualifying All-District selections are voted on by the CSC to reach the Academic All-American Teams.