Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Colorado School of Mines is the favorite heading into the 2023-24 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Women’s Indoor Track and Field season, the league announced Monday. The RMAC Women’s Indoor Track and Field preseason poll is voted on by the league’s 14 head coaches and coaches are not permitted to vote for their own program.
 
The Orediggers enter the 2023-24 campaign as the favorite after earning 153 points and six first-place votes in preseason voting. Mines is coming off its first RMAC Women’s Indoor Track and Field title in program history after besting the field by a 10.5-point margin at last season’s conference championships in Alamosa, Colo. Colorado School of Mines returns Hannah Miller who captured the national title in the pole vault at last year’s NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships, the first for the Mines women’s program since 2004.
 
University of Colorado Colorado Springs enters the season ranked second in RMAC preseason voting with 150 points and five first-place votes. The Mountain Lions will look for redemption and return a rather large roster that will compete for yet another RMAC title. After earning RMAC Women’s Athlete of the Meet at last year’s conference championships, Audrey Bloomquist returns for UCCS in the 2023-24 campaign. The Mountain Lions sent six competitors to last year’s NCAA DII Indoor Track and Field Championships and will look to build on that showing heading into the 2023-24 campaign.
 
Adams State claimed 141 points and a pair of first-place votes to secure its spot at third in the RMAC preseason poll. The Grizzlies enter the year with a wave of momentum after capturing the fifth NCAA DII national championship at last year’s national championships, marking their second since the 2018-19 season. Stephanie Cotter was huge for Adams State last season and captured an individual national title in the mile event during the NCAA DII Indoor Championships.
 
Colorado Mesa checks in at fourth place with 136 points and the league’s final first-place vote. Western Colorado resides in fifth place with 117 points, followed by Colorado State University Pueblo in sixth place with 116 points. New Mexico Highlands and Chadron State concluded preseason voting tied for seventh place with 80 points apiece.
 
Black Hills State claims ninth place with 75 points, just ahead of Metropolitan State University of Denver in 10th place with 67 points. Fort Lewis sits 11th overall in the preseason poll with 43 points, while Colorado Christian (42 points), Westminster (40 points) and South Dakota Mines (34 points) round out preseason rankings.
 
The 2023-24 RMAC Indoor Track and Field Championships will be hosted by Black Hills State at the Donald E. Young Center Fieldhouse in Spearfish, S.D., Feb. 23-24.