Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – University of Colorado Colorado Springs is the preseason favorite 2022 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Men’s Outdoor Track and Field season. The Mountain Lions claimed 10 of the 13 first-place votes to top the ranking. The RMAC Outdoor Track and Field preseason poll is voted on by the league’s 13 head coaches. Coaches are not permitted to vote for their own program.
 
After earning an overwhelming majority of first-place votes, UCCS is the favorite for the 2022 outdoor season after earning 134 points. The Mountain Lions are coming off of an RMAC indoor team championship and will aim to carry their success into the outdoor season after amassing five All-Americans at the 2021-22 NCAA Division II Indoor Championships. UCCS is also coming off of its first RMAC outdoor championship in program history after scoring 149.5 points at the conference meet last season. In the 2022 RMAC Outdoor Track and Field preseason poll, the Mountain Lions claimed 134 points to lead the way.
 
Colorado School of Mines captures the second-place spot with a pair of first-place votes and 123 points. The Orediggers will look to dethrone the reigning champions and can do so through a formidable distance program that has claimed consistent success over the years. Luke Julian, Jake Mitchem and Dillon Powell claimed podium finishes at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. Powell earned a national runner-up finish in the men’s 5,000-meter run, while Mitchem finished fifth overall in the same race. Julian enters the outdoor season after finishing sixth in the men’s mile race at the NCAA indoor championships.
 
Adams State was selected to finish in third place after capturing the league’s final first-place vote and finishing with 117 points. The Grizzlies enter the outdoor season claiming 11 All-America honors from nine student-athletes at the 2021-22 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. Adams State claimed a third-place finish at the 2021-22 RMAC indoor championships.
 
Colorado Mesa occupies the fourth-place position with 110 points, while Colorado State University Pueblo sits in fifth place with 97 points. Western Colorado is sixth overall with 90 points, followed by Chadron State with 82 points and Black Hills State with 68 points.
 
Colorado Christian resides in ninth place with 57 points, while Metropolitan State University of Denver stands in 10th with 52 points. South Dakota Mines holds the 11th-place position with 37 points, followed by Fort Lewis (24 points) and Westminster (23 points).
 
The 2022 RMAC Outdoor Track and Field Championships will be hosted in Spearfish, S.D., by Black Hills State, beginning Friday, April 29. The meet will be a three-day event that wraps on Sunday, May 1.