COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.— After sweeping last year's Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference titles, the Colorado Mesa University men's and women's swimming and diving teams both received every possible first place vote to take the top spots in the 2019-20 RMAC Preseason Coaches' Polls with ease.
The Maverick men, who won their third RMAC title in program history with a championship-record 1,261 points in 2019, received four first place votes and a maximum 16 points from the coaches, who each ranked their opposition top to bottom without voting for their own teams.
Oklahoma Baptist received new Maverick head coach
Mickey Wender's first place vote and was picked second in the poll with 12 points. Oklahoma Christian and the Colorado School of Mines tied for third with eight points while Adams State, which is resuming its' men's program this year, was picked fifth with six points.
On the women's side, the Mavericks, hot off their first conference title in program history, swept all eight possible first place votes to take the 9-team poll with a maximum possible 64 points, easily outdistancing Dixie State, which had 50. The Trailblazers received Wender's first place vote after taking third in last year's RMAC Championships.
Oklahoma Baptist, which finished second to CMU last year, was picked third with 47 points while Mines was fourth with 43. Western Colorado (31) and Oklahoma Christian (29) were picked next in fifth and sixth, respectively. Adams State and CSU-Pueblo were tied for seventh in the poll with 25 points while Nebraska-Kearney was picked last with 10 points.
The Mavericks begin their regular season this evening hosting the tenth annual Intermountain Shootout at the El Pomar Natatorium. They will compete against Division I foes Air Force, BYU and the CMU Club squad starting at 5 p.m. The meet continues on Saturday at 10:30 a.m.
The Mavericks will again host the RMAC Championships this season after the meet had been held in Lewisville, Texas in each of the past two years. The 2020 championships will be held from Feb. 12-15.
