IRVING, Texas  The National Football Foundation (NFF) on Wednesday, April 8, announced its 2026 NFF Hampshire Honor Society class, a distinguished list that includes 10 student-athletes from the Western Colorado program as the Honor Society celebrates its 20th anniversary.

According to the official NFF release, "the 2026 class includes a record 2,596 players from 65 colleges and universities," and since its initial class from 2007, "has recognized 23,568 student-athletes from 691 schools."

Nominees from institutions must be:

• A senior player graduating in the spring or summer who has completed his final season of eligibility in 2025, or…
• A graduate player or grad transfer who has already earned a bachelor's degree and competed in the 2025 season
• Maintained a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.20, and…
• Been a starter or significant contributor across the 2025 season

Ten Mountaineers are included in the Honor Society's record number of honorees:

• Ricky Freymond, DE (3.63, business administration)
• Drew Nash, QB (3.67, exercise & sports science)
• Blake Nieslanik, DB (3.83, business administration)
• Taylor Nichols, OL (3.34, business administration)
• Daniel Parsek, TE (3.89, exercise & sports science)
• Nate Scharnhorst, DB (3.71, business administration)
• Kaden Stewart, LB (3.31, business administration)
• Drea Thompson, DB (3.24, applied physics)
• Chance Wiening, OL (3.97, exercise & sports science)
• Jaydon Young, DL (3.65, exercise & sports science)

Several of the Honor Society's selections from this list have already been recognized during the postseason for their academic accomplishments.

In addition to all 10 earning NFF Academic All-Colorado First Team honors, Nash was named the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Offensive Academic Player of the Year and was joined on the RMAC All-Academic first team by Freymond and Wiening.

Nieslanik, Nichols, Parsek, Scharnhorst, Stewart and Young were on the RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll.

Freymond, Nash, Nieslanik, Scharnhorst and Wiening were named to the College Sports Communicators (CSC, formerly CoSIDA) Academic All-District® Team, with Nash and Wiening advancing to earn CSC Academic All-America® second team honors.