By: Cody Bush, Associate Commissioner / Strategic Communications

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Colorado Christian University senior Shannon King is the 2024 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Women’s Cross Country Academic Athlete of the Year and highlights a group of 14 First Team Academic All-RMAC selections, presented by Barnes & Noble College, as selected by the league’s cross country athletic communications directors and presented on Thursday.

King, an Arvada, Colorado native, entered this season with a 4.00 GPA as a graduate student working toward a degree in mental health counseling. She already holds a degree in psychology from Colorado Christian with a 4.00 GPA. King earned her third U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association All-America honor this season after finishing 25th at the NCAA Division II Women’s Cross Country Championships last month.

King leads a 14-member First Team Academic All-RMAC group, representing seven of the league’s 15 institutions. Three 2023 First Team Academic All-RMAC members return as honorees in 2024: University of Colorado Colorado Springs redshirt senior Anna Fauske and Colorado School of Mines redshirt junior Margaux Basart and senior Jenna Ramsey-Rutledge.

In addition, the RMAC recognized 101 student-athletes, including the 14 Academic All-RMAC honorees, on its 2024 Women’s Cross Country Academic Honor Roll.
The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Academic Honor Roll recognizes student-athletes in each conference-sponsored sport who academically maintain at least a 3.30 cumulative grade-point average, have completed two consecutive semesters at their current institution, and have used a season of competition.

Each institution’s athletic communications directors nominate student-athletes who academically maintain at least a 3.50 cumulative grade point average, along with the other criteria for the Academic Honor Roll, for recognition on the First Team Academic All-RMAC in each sport. The league’s athletic communications directors for that sport vote to compose the First Team Academic All-RMAC and select the Academic Player of the Year. They are not permitted to vote for their own student-athletes.

About the RMAC
The RMAC is a premier NCAA Division II conference located in Colorado Springs, Colo., with 15 member institutions. The RMAC sponsors 22 varsity NCAA sports and has produced 67 NCAA Division II national champions and 54 national runners-up since 1992.
 

2024 First Team Academic All-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference
(as selected by RMAC athletics communications directors)
Student-Athlete	School	Class.	GPA	Major	Hometown
Margaux Basart (1)	Colorado School of Mines	RJr.	4.00	Engineering Physics	West Des Moines, Iowa
Anna Fauske (1)	UCCS	Sr.	3.62	Nursing	Sherwood, Wis.
Lexi Herr	Colorado School of Mines	RJr.	3.90	Geophysical Engineering	Huntsville, Ala.
Shannon King	Colorado Christian	Gr.	4.00 4.00	B.A. Psychology Mental Health Counseling (Grad.)	Arvada, Colo.
Emily LaMena	Colorado School of Mines	RFr.	4.00	Geophysical Engineering	Huntington, N.Y.
Maggie McCleskey	Adams State	Jr.	3.99	Biology/Cellular & Molecular	Louisville, Colo.
Autumn McQuitty	Colorado Mesa	So.	4.00	Mass Communications	Alamosa, Colo.
Brooke Miller	Colorado Mesa	RJr.	3.95	Nursing	Homer, Alaska
Lydia Peters	Chadron State	Jr.	4.00	Sport, Fitness and Recreation	Sidney, Neb.
Kaya Pillivant	UCCS	RSo.	3.89	Mathematics	Cheyenne, Wyo.
Jenna Ramsey-Rutledge (1)	Colorado School of Mines	RSr.	3.85	Computational & Applied Mathematics	Hutchinson, Kan.
Grace Strongman	Colorado School of Mines	RJr.	4.00	Metallurgical & Materials Engineering	Prairie Village, Kan.
Rachel Richtman	UCCS	RSr.	4.00	Spanish	Elburn, Ill.
Mia Salas	MSU Denver	Sr.	4.00	Nutrition & Dietetics (Grad.)	St. Michael, Minn.
Notes: Shading indicates the RMAC Women’s Cross Country Academic Athlete of the Year, a (1) indicates the student-athlete was a 2023 First-Team Academic All-RMAC honoree.