COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. — Adams State claims the top spot ahead of the 2024 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Women’s Cross Country season, as the Grizzlies gathered 196 points and 14 first-place votes in the 2024 RMAC Women’s Cross Country Preseason Coaches’ Poll, announced Wednesday. The league’s 15 head coaches voted in the preseason poll and were not allowed to vote for their team.
 
Adams State starts the 2024 season as the four-time defending RMAC Champions and has reloaded to grab a fifth. The Grizzlies will lean on experience and stability with three First Team All-RMAC members returning from last year’s championship squad. Damon Martin, the defending RMAC Coach of the Year, has reloaded with 10 underclassmen ready for their opportunity to deliver for a program that finished as the national runner-up in 2023. 
 
Colorado School of Mines earned the final first-place vote and tallied 176 points. The Orediggers finished second at the 2023 RMAC Championships for a fifth consecutive year and are looking to make the next step. The Orediggers are full of returning talent, with Jenna Ramsey-Rutledge and Grace Strongman anchoring a squad aiming for new heights.
 
Western Colorado follows just five points behind the Orediggers, finishing third with 171 points. The Mountaineers were on the podium at the RMAC meet, taking home the team bronze. All-Americans Allison Beasley, Leah Taylor, and Peyton Weiss return for Western Colorado and front a team hungry for conference glory in 2024.
 
University of Colorado Colorado Springs receives 155 points, followed by Colorado State University Pueblo with 143 points to complete the top five in this year’s poll.
 
Fort Lewis (122 points), Colorado Christian (118 points), and Metropolitan State University of Denver (107 points) are next in sixth, seventh, and eighth place, respectively.
 
Colorado Mesa earns 99 points, while South Dakota Mines tallies 63 points to round out the top 10 of the 2024 results. Black Hills State narrowly sits in 11th place with 62 points, followed by New Mexico Highlands at 57 points.
 
Chadron State (51 points), Westminster (32 points), and Regis (23 points) conclude the results of the 2024 preseason poll voting.
 
The 2024 RMAC Women’s Cross Country Championship will be held on Saturday, Oct. 26, at Gene Torres Golf Course in Las Vegas, N.M. The tournament central page on the RMAC website has more information.