yahoo
From a local star to an All-American.
That's the route for our top men's college athlete from the Fort Collins area during the 2025-26 school year, as voted on by fans in the Coloradoan and Blue Federal Credit Union Summer Series pol l.
Former Poudre School District lacrosse standout Jackson Dale took top local honors after a breakout season on the lacrosse pitch.
Dale was a third-team NAIA All-American at Taylor University, breaking program records and becoming one of the nation's top players at the NAIA level.
The 2023 Poudre graduate was all over the field for the Trojans during the 2026 spring campaign.
Dale piled up 45 goals with 66 assists to shatter the school record with 111 total points on the season.
Those 66 assists also led all of NAIA and more than tripled the next highest tally on his own team.
Overall, he had a hand in 111 of the team's 252 goals (44%).
The junior is now No.
1 in Taylor history with 104 career goals, No.
2 with 201 points and No.
2 with 97 assists across his three seasons in Upland, Ind.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Taylor University Mens Lacrosse (@tu_menslacrosse) Dale has become a star after his prep playing days with the Stars as a two-year varsity contributor.
Before transitioning more to attacker in college, Dale was a standout midfielder for some of PSD's best teams in recent memory.
He had seven goals, picked up 23 ground balls and forced eight takeaways for Stars squads that went 29-6 from 2022-23, including a Colorado Class 5A semifinal run in 2022.
Local lacrosse fans showed out at the polls, lifting Dale to the win with 45.3% of a hotly-contested vote.
That bested nine other nominees and men's college sports standouts from the Fort Collins area: Sam Pease, Northern Colorado baseball (Fossil Ridge) (Runner-up at 42.5%) Blake Smotherman, Colorado School of Mines football (Fort Collins) Jake Eccleston, Louisville swimming (Windsor) Will Vasseur, UC-Santa Barbara baseball (Rocky Mountain) Jones Thomas, Wyoming football (Poudre) Mikey Munn, South Dakota football (Windsor) Brock Mishak, West Texas A&M baseball (Fossil Ridge) Banks Norby, Western Wyoming wrestling (Poudre) Merek Ranstrom, South Dakota Mines track (Liberty Common) View the full results: Stay tuned for the next edition of the Coloradoan and Blue Federal Credit Union's Athlete of the Week Summer Series.
The top high school mascots poll begins July 22, with the winner crowned July 28 at coloradoan.com/sports.
Chris Abshire covers high school and community sports for the Coloradoan.
This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Lacrosse All-American voted top Fort Collins men's college athlete.