Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – University of Colorado Colorado Springs leads the way in the 2021-22 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Women’s Indoor Track and Field preseason poll, the league announced Friday. The RMAC preseason poll is voted on by the league’s 13 head coaches. Coaches are not permitted to vote for their program.
 
The Mountain Lions earn the league’s top spot in preseason voting with 141 points and nine first-place votes. UCCS enters the season after claiming the 2021 RMAC indoor title with 210 points and beating the second-place team by a 106-point margin. Following their showing at the RMAC Indoor Championships last season, the Mountain Lions then captured an eighth-place finish at the NCAA Indoor Championships, marking a program-best finish at the national event. Nine UCCS women earned All-America distinctions for their efforts at last season’s national meet, including five individual competitors and the four members of the distance medley relay team. Layla Almasri returns for her redshirt senior season after earning RMAC Track Athlete of the Year honors, while Hannah Meek returns for UCCS after being named last season’s RMAC Field Athlete of the Year. The Mountain Lions are led into the 2021-22 campaign by reigning RMAC Coach of the Year Ross Fellows.
 
Colorado School of Mines checks in at No. 2 in preseason voting, earning 117 points and a pair of first-place votes. The Orediggers registered nine All-Americans last season and finished tied for 23rd at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. Zoe Baker returns for Mines after claiming a pair of First Team All-America honors in the 3,000-meter and 5,000-meter events last season.
 
Western Colorado earns the third-place spot with 115 points and two first-place votes after finishing fourth place at last season’s RMAC Indoor Track and Field Championships. The Mountaineers return a pair of first team all-conference honorees from last season in Katie Doucette and Kaiya Firor. WCU also has six second team all-conference selections from last season’s roster, who will make their way onto the track for the 2021-22 season.
 
Colorado Mesa occupies the fourth-place position with 114 points, followed by Adams State in fifth place with 108 points. Colorado State University Pueblo sits in sixth place with 84 points, while Black Hills State resides in seventh place with 74 points. New Mexico Highlands is picked to finish eighth overall with 72 points in preseason voting.
 
Metropolitan State University of Denver and Chadron State are tied for ninth place with 50 points apiece, just ahead of Colorado Christian in 11th place with 37 points. Westminster (29 points) and South Dakota Mines (23 points) round out the preseason poll.
 
The 2021-22 indoor season gets underway this weekend with eight women’s programs competing around the league. The 2021-22 RMAC Indoor Track and Field Championships will be hosted by Western Colorado in Gunnison, Colo., Feb. 25-26.