Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – University of Colorado Colorado Springs occupies the top spot in the 2021-22 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference (RMAC) Men’s Indoor Track and Field preseason poll, the league announced Friday. The RMAC preseason poll is voted on by the league’s 12 head coaches. Coaches are not permitted to vote for their program.
 
The Mountain Lions claim the league’s top spot after capturing 119 points and nine first-place votes. Coming off of an indoor team championship, the UCCS men enter the 2021-22 season with plenty of momentum, led by Afewerki Zeru, who was crowned the RMAC Male Athlete of the Meet at the 2020-21 RMAC Indoor Track and Field Championships. Zeru led the Mountain Lions at the meet with first-place finishes in the 3,000-meter and 5,000-meter events.
 
Colorado School of Mines ranks second in preseason voting with a pair of first-place votes and 110 points. While the Orediggers did not compete at last season’s RMAC Indoor Track and Field Championships, they still found success at the NCAA Division II Championships. The Mines men finished sixth overall at the national meet, earning 12 All-America honors.
 
Adams State earns the third-place spot with the league’s final first-place vote and 91 points. The Grizzlies took second at the RMAC indoor championships before earning a pair of individual All-America honors to go along with an All-American performance by the distance medley relay team.
 
Western Colorado checks in at fourth place with 88 points, followed by Colorado Mesa in fifth place with 87 points. Colorado State University Pueblo stands sixth overall with 69 points, just ahead of Chadron State in seventh place with 66 points.
 
Black Hills State resides in eighth place with 55 points, while Colorado Christian stands ninth in the league with 35 points. Metropolitan State University of Denver holds the 10th-place position with 34 points, while South Dakota Mines (21 points) and Westminster (17 points) round out the preseason poll.
 
The 2021-22 indoor season gets underway this weekend with eight men’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.