COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.— Coming off strong runner-up finishes at the indoor championships, the Colorado Mesa University Mavericks were both picked highly in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference's Outdoor Track & Field Preseason Coaches' Polls, announced this week by conference officials.
The Maverick women received one first place vote in the poll and were picked second out of 14 teams with 148 points overall. Meanwhile, the CMU men were tabbed fourth out of 13 teams with 110 points.
UCCS, which swept the 2021 outdoor titles and last month's 2022 indoor crowns was picked first in both polls, which were voted upon by the conference's head coaches, who each ranked their opposition without voting for their own teams.
The CMU women took second at the February 25-26 RMAC Indoor Championships for the second straight year and had three individual championships while racking up five first team and 16 overall All-RMAC honors. They had placed seventh at the 2021 RMAC Outdoor Championships in the midst of an injury plagued season.
RMAC pentathlon champion
Mica Jenrette then went to earn her third career all-America honor with a sixth place finish at the NCAA Division II National Championships.
The CMU men are coming off a school-record setting performances at the RMAC Indoor Championships. They scored 101 team points and had their best ever conference championship finish in program history by finishing second. They also had three individuals, including RMAC Championship Athlete of the Meet
Elijah Williams, combine to win four RMAC titles. The squad also accounted for nine first team and 15 overall All-RMAC honors.
The Maverick men then went on to earn a program-record five all-America honors at the NCAA Division II Championships while finishing in a tie for 13
th place as a team, their second best finish in program history.
CMU's men also took fourth at last year's RMAC Outdoor Championships, their second best finish in program history.
The Mavericks are slated to begin their brief outdoor season next week hosting the Maverick Classic on Apr. 1-2. The RMAC Outdoor Championships will be contested from Apr. 29-May 1 in Spearfish, South Dakota.
2022 RMAC Women's Outdoor Track & Field Preseason Poll
| Institution (First-Place Votes) |
Points |
| 1. UCCS (11) |
158 |
| 2. Colorado Mesa (1) |
148 |
| 3. Colorado School of Mines (1) |
136 |
| 4. Adams State (1) |
135 |
| 5. Western Colorado |
121 |
| 6. CSU Pueblo |
116 |
| 7. Black Hills State |
97 |
| 8. Chadron State |
73 |
| 9. MSU Denver |
65 |
| 10. New Mexico Highlands |
62 |
| 11. Westminster |
57 |
| 12. Colorado Christian |
46 |
| 13. South Dakota Mines |
31 |
| 14. Fort Lewis |
29 |
2022 RMAC Men's Outdoor Track & Field Preseason Poll
| Institution (First-Place Votes) |
Points |
| 1. UCCS (10) |
134 |
| 2. Colorado School of Mines (2) |
123 |
| 3. Adams State (1) |
117 |
| 4. Colorado Mesa |
110 |
| 5. CSU Pueblo |
97 |
| 6. Western Colorado |
90 |
| 7. Chadron State |
82 |
| 8. Black Hills State |
68 |
| 9. Colorado Christian |
57 |
| 10. MSU Denver |
52 |
| 11. South Dakota Mines |
37 |
| 12. Fort Lewis |
24 |
| 13. Westminster |
23 |
