Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Colorado Mesa’s Justin Thompson and Colorado School of Mines’ Zoe Baker are the 2021-22 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Male and Female Scholar-Athletes of the Year, respectively, the league announced Wednesday. The RMAC Scholar-Athlete of the Year nominees are submitted by the league’s sports information directors and award winners are then selected by the RMAC Awards Committee.
 
Thompson claims the Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year award after a pair of stellar track and field seasons for the Mavericks. Throughout his redshirt sophomore campaign, Thompson captured all-conference first-team honors for the long jump, during the indoor and outdoor seasons, after finishing in third place at each RMAC Track and Field Championship. He also captured the men’s track and field academic sweep by claiming both RMAC Indoor and Outdoor Men’s Academic Athlete of the Year honors in addition to both RMAC Men’s Summit Award accolades. An exercise science major with a 4.0 grade-point average (GPA), Thompson was named the 2021-22 NCAA Division II Men’s Indoor Track and Field Elite 90 Award winner, which is given to the student-athlete competing at the national championship meet with the highest GPA.
 
Baker captures the Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year award after securing a slew of RMAC academic honors throughout the 2021-22 school year. She not only claimed both RMAC Women’s Indoor and Outdoor Track and Field Summit Awards but also earned the league’s Academic Runner of the Year honor for indoor and outdoor track and field and cross country. Baker was also named the 2021-22 NCAA Division II Women’s Indoor Track and Field Elite 90 Award winner, which marks the second of her career. The Longmont, Colo., native recently completed her senior season with the Orediggers and did so with a perfect 4.0 GPA as a double-major in computer science and applied mathematics and statistics.
 
Thompson and Baker will be honored at the 2022 RMAC Hall of Fame and Awards Banquet, which will be hosted Friday, July 15, at the Colorado Springs Marriott. Doors will open for the event at 5 p.m. MT, while the banquet is slated to begin at 6 p.m. Tickets are available for purchase and can be secured here or can be purchased at the door with a credit card or cash only. Adult tickets may be purchased for $75, while tickets for children 12 or younger may be bought for $30. Tables for 10 may also be purchased for $600. Included in the price of each ticket is a dinner with options ranging from beef, chicken or vegetarian plates.
 
To be eligible for the RMAC Male and Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year awards, nominees must meet the academic standards outlined in the league’s all-academic criteria. The Scholar-Athlete of the Year award winners must have participated at the active member institution for two or more seasons in at least one sport.
 
Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year Honorable Mention:
Gregory Carter, Adams State; Tommy Donovan, Black Hills State; Dillon Powell, Colorado School of Mines; Garret Wild, CSU Pueblo; Laolu Oke, MSU Denver; Kristian Hooker, Regis; Tyler Ring, South Dakota Mines; Geoff Kelley, UCCS; Cade Michael, Western Colorado.
 
Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year Honorable Mention:
Nicole Lawrence, Adams State; Xiomara Robinson, Black Hills State; Lily Borgenheimer, Colorado Mesa; Yasmine Hernandez, CSU Pueblo; Averi Basso, Fort Lewis; Rylee Hladky, MSU Denver; Lucy Johnson, Regis; Ryan Weiss, South Dakota Mines; Tarah Patterson, UCCS; Katie Doucette, Western Colorado; Hunter Krebs, Westminster.