GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Ahead of Colorado Mesa women's soccer's first appearance in the RMAC Tournament championship game since 2011, a member of the Mavericks has earned the sport's top academic excellence award for the first time in program history.

Redshirt junior midfielder Mira Houck is the 2023 winner of the RMAC Women's Soccer Summit Award, presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative GPA that is also competing at the site of the finals for their respective sport's championship.

Houck has maintained a perfect 4.0 GPA during her time at Colorado Mesa, completing a total of 77 credits as a sociology major. Houck is a two-time member of the RMAC All-Academic Honor Roll and also earned a CSC/CoSIDA Academic All-District honor in 2022.

On the field, Houck was an All-RMAC Honorable Mention midfielder in 2021 and has started 55 of the 56 contacts she's appeared in as a Maverick. This season, she has three goals in 19 matches, scoring against Black Hills State, Colorado Christian and Fort Lewis. Houck has logged 1,405 minutes this season, the third-most on the Maverick roster this year. If Houck plays 53 minutes or more in Sunday's tournament final against Colorado School of Mines, she will pass 4,500 minutes played in her career.

Colorado Mesa will take on Colorado School of Mines for the RMAC Tournament championship this Sunday at 1 p.m. If the Mavericks win, they will automatically secure qualification for the NCAA Tournament by winning the RMAC's bid. If the Mavericks lose in the RMAC title game, they will need to win an at-large bid. In the NCAA's most recent regional rankings, the Mavs were ranked third in the South Central region. The top six teams will qualify for the NCAA Tournament.