CHICAGO – Roosevelt senior Khaniya Higginbotham was named a College Sports Communicators Academic All-District honoree Tuesday, the first Lakers track and field runner to earn the honor in two years.
Higginbotham re-wrote the Roosevelt record book in the 200 and 400 meters, smashing the records multiple times during the 2025-26 season. She saved the best for last in both the indoor and outdoor seasons as she set her season best in both the indoor and outdoor 200 meters at the GLIAC Track & Field Championships. She did the same in the 400 meters outdoors as she claimed seventh place in the conference for the Lakers.
The native of Burnham, Ill. finished just outside the top 50 in the region in the indoor and outdoor 200, with an indoor best of 25.93 seconds and an outdoor best of 25.52. However, she was able to easily enter the top 50 in the 400 meters, ranking 45th in the Midwest Region with an indoor time of 58.30 seconds and the 30th-best outdoor time in the region at 57.08 seconds.
Higginbotham becomes the 34th Academic All-District honoree for Roosevelt this season, surpassing its record-setting total of 32 from the past two academic years.
The Academic All-America program is the longest running and premier award for athletic and academic success across championship college sports in all three NCAA divisions, the NAIA, two-year colleges and Canadian institutions. It was established in 1952 and the honorees are nominated by CSC members then All-American honors are voted on by the membership as well.
In order to be named to the Academic All-District teams, a student-athlete must not only hold at least a 3.5 grade point average, but also must have posted a top-50 mark in their region in an event. Due to Roosevelt being ineligible for the postseason due to NCAA rules, Higginbotham was ineligible to be listed in the final regional results used to determine postseason eligibility. As a result, she was unable to advance to the Academic All-American ballot that was sent out to the CSC membership.
