By: Nash Loibl, Director of Strategic Communications and Internal Operations

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Colorado School of Mines defender Natalie Rouse has been named the 2026 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Women’s Soccer Academic Player of the Year, the conference announced Wednesday. Rouse leads a 13-member First Team Academic All-RMAC roster as selected by the league’s athletic communication directors.

Rouse, a native of Carlsbad, California, adds another accolade to an already exceptional 2026 campaign, earning Academic Player of the Year honors for her accomplishments in the classroom and on the pitch. The redshirt senior boasts a 3.98 undergraduate GPA in applied mathematics and statistics, along with a 3.95 graduate GPA in operations research in nuclear engineering.

Rouse's success in the classroom is matched by her performance on the field. Earlier this month, she was named RMAC Defensive Player of the Year for the third time in her Colorado School of Mines career. As a key leader of the Orediggers' back line, Rouse helped anchor a defense that surrendered just 18 goals during the regular season, including only 10 in conference play. Mines also committed just 93 fouls, the second-fewest in the RMAC. Rouse has made her presence felt on the offensive end as well, recording seven goals and 12 shots on goal during the 2026 season. She has logged 1,564 minutes during the regular season, while helping lead the Orediggers to their third consecutive RMAC Women's Soccer Tournament championship

Rouse leads a 13-member First Team Academic All-RMAC group, with six of the conference’s 13 women’s soccer-sponsoring institutions represented. The University of Colorado Colorado Springs’ Taylynn Levi and Brooke Pavlich, along with Colorado Mesa University’s Keely Wieczorek, join Rouse as returners from last year’s Academic All-RMAC roster.

Sarah Dunn (Colorado Mesa), Maggie Payne (Regis), Bailey Smith (Black Hills State), Abby Stassi (UCCS), and Jordan Welsh (Western Colorado) all moved up from Honor Roll to First Team.
In addition, the RMAC recognized 169 student-athletes, including the 13 First Team Academic All-RMAC honorees, on its 2026 Women’s Soccer 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.  
 

2026 First Team Academic All-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference
(as selected by RMAC athletics communications directors)
Student-Athlete	School	Class	Pos	GPA	Major	Hometown
Sarah Dunn (HM)	Colorado Mesa	Sr.	D	3.89	Business Finance	Colorado Springs, Colo.
Ellie Duncan	Colorado Mesa	So.	F	3.87	Nursing	Montrose, Colo.
Kylie Hoffman	Colorado Mesa	Sr.	D	4.00	Mass Communications	Westminster, Colo.
Taylynn Levi (1)	UCCS	Sr.	MF	3.98	Mechanical Engineering	Colorado Springs, Colo.
Brooke Pavlich (1)	UCCS	Jr.	F	3.93	Exercise Science	Golden, Colo.
Maggie Payne (HM)	Regis	Jr.	GK	3.97	Biology	Overland Park, Kan.
Natalie Rouse (1)	Colorado School of Mines	R-Sr.	D	3.98 3.95	Applied Mathematics & Statistics Operations Research in Nuclear Engineering	Carlsbad, Calif.
Fernanda Rodriguez	Regis	Jr.	F	3.51	Health Exercise Science	Vista, Calif.
Aubri Roth	Black Hills State	So.	MF	4.00	Elementary Education	Laurel, Mont.
Bailey Smith (HM)	Black Hills State	Jr.	MF	4.00	Biology & Chemistry	Baldwin City, Kan.
Abby Stassi (HM)	UCCS	Sr.	F	3.64	Finance	Highlands Ranch, Colo.
Jordan Welsh (HM)	Western Colorado	Sr.	F	3.96	Exercise & Sport Science	Bend, Ore.
Keely Wieczorek (APoTY, 1)	Colorado Mesa	Sr.	GK	3.94	Exercise Science	Camas, Wash.
Notes: (APoTY) indicates the student-athlete was the 2025 Academic Player of the Year; (1) indicates the student-athlete was a 2025 First-Team Academic All-RMAC honoree. (HM) indicates the student-athlete was a 2025 Academic All-RMAC Honor Roll honoree.

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 65 NCAA Division II national champions and 54 national runners-up since 1992.