By: A.J. Vazquez, Strategic Communications & Marketing Intern

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. –  Colorado School of Mines redshirt sophomore Emily LaMena is the 2026 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Women’s Outdoor Track & Field Academic Athlete of the Year, leading a 25-member First Team Academic All-RMAC Team as selected by the league’s athletic communication directors. 

LaMena claims the conference’s highest academic honor in women’s outdoor track and field after entering the season with a 4.00 grade-point average as a Geophysical Engineering major at Colorado School of Mines. This is her second consecutive year earning Academic All-RMAC distinction. 

The Huntington, New York, native capped off a strong 2026 outdoor season by capturing the NCAA Division II national championship in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and earning a national runner-up finish in the 5,000-meter run, posting times of 9:58.38 and 16:04, respectively, also garnering First-Team All-America honors in both events. 

She led the Orediggers in points at the national championship with 18, propelling Colorado School of Mines to its highest national finish in program history with a third-place team result. LaMena is also just the 10th athlete in Division II history to break the 10-minute barrier in the 3,000-meter steeple chase. 

The 25-member First Team Academic All-RMAC squad featured 10 returning honorees, led by Academic Athlete of the Year Emily LaMena. Margaux Basart of Colorado School of Mines and Maggie McCleskey of Adams State Universityearned their third Outdoor Track & Field Academic All-RMAC honor. Returning first-team selections also included Jadyn Herron (Colorado State University Pueblo), Grace Strongman and Jenna Ramsey-Rutledge (Colorado School of Mines), Autumn McQuitty and Brooke Miller (Colorado Mesa University), Krissie Sanders (University of Colorado Colorado Springs), and Lauren Ocampo (Adams State University), all of whom repeated as Academic All-RMAC honorees. 

In addition, the RMAC recognized 200 student-athletes, including the 25 First Team Academic All-RMAC honorees, on its 2026 Women’s Outdoor Track and Field 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 participated in a season of competition.   
  
Each institution’s athletic communications directors nominate student-athletes who maintain at least a 3.50 cumulative grade point average. The nominees must also meet the other criteria for the Academic Honor Roll. These student-athletes are considered for 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 Women’s Outdoor Track & Field First Team Academic All-Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference
(as selected by RMAC athletics communications directors)
Student-Athlete	School	Class	GPA	Major	Hometown
Emily LaMena(1)	Colorado School of Mines	RSo.	4.00	Geophysical Engineering	Huntington, New York
Jadyn Herron (1)	CSU Pueblo	Jr.	4.00	Social Work	Queen Creek, Arizona
Hannah Schissler	Colorado Mesa	So.	3.93	Studio Art	Carr, Colorado
Cassidy Goddard	Black Hills State	So.	4.00	Exercise Science	Haxtun, Colorado
Keturah Templeman	CSU Pueblo	RSr.	4.00	Elementary Education	Greeley, Colorado
Grace Strongman(1)	Colorado School of Mines	Gr.	3.99	Metallurgical & Materials Engineering	Prairie Village, Kansas
Autumn McQuitty(1)	Colorado Mesa	Jr.	4.00	Mass Communications	Alamosa, Colorado
Margaux Basart(1, 3x)	Colorado School of Mines	RSr.	4.00	Engineering Physics	West Des Moines, Iowa
Molly Breuer	UCCS	RSr.	3.86	Nursing	Boerne, Texas
Madison Clause	Chadron State	Sr.	4.00	Family and Consumer Science	Billings, Montana
Maggie McCleskey (1, 3x)	Adams State	Sr.	3.99	Biology	Louisville, Colorado
Kaiya Graves	Colorado Mesa	Jr.	3.96	History	Laurel, Montana
Brooke Miller (1)	Colorado Mesa	RSr.	3.97	Nursing	Homer, Alaska
Krissie Sanders(1)	UCCS	Jr.	3.82	Philosophy	Littleton, Colorado
Hannah Hartwell	Fort Lewis	Sr.	3.93	Environmental Biology: Wildlife, Plant, and Ecological Science	Carlsbad, Colorado
Brooke Peterson	UCCS	Sr.	3.94	Biology	Cottonwood, Arizona
Lauren Ocampo(1)	Adams State	Jr.	3.94	Kinesiology	Las Cruces, New Mexico
Shirley Weaver	Colorado Mesa	So.	4.00	Biology	Fort Collins, Colorado
Annaka Rudolph	Western Colorado	So.	3.98	Politics & Government	Lafayette, Colorado
Kammi Merritt	Colorado Mesa	So.	3.70	Exercise ScienceExercise Science	Star Valley, Wyoming
Jenna Ramsey-Rutledge (1)	Colorado School of Mines	RSr.	3.84	Computational & Applied Mathematics	Hutchinson, Kansas
Peyton Weiss	Western Colorado	RJr.	3.63	Exercise Science	Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Kaya Pillivant	UCCS	RJr.	3.93	Mathematics	Cheyenne, Wyoming
Haley Harkrider	Adams State	Jr.	3.63	Business Administration	Richmond, Texas
Payton Sheehan	Black Hills State	So.	4.00	Physical Education	Calgary, Canada
Notes: Gold background indicates RMAC Academic Player of the Year.  A (1) indicates the student-athlete was a 2024-25 First Team Academic All-RMAC honoree, and a 3x or 4x indicates the student-athlete is a three-time or four-time First Team Academic All-RMAC selection.

About the RMAC 

The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, headquartered in Colorado Springs, is a premier NCAA Division II conference with 15 institutions located in Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, South Dakota, and Utah. The RMAC currently competes in 22 NCAA Division II sports and has earned 71 national championships and 53 national runners-up since 1992. Founded in 1909, the RMAC is the most historic athletic conference in the western United States and Division II. 

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