GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— The Colorado Mesa University women's swimming and diving team will end 2024 ranked atop the country according to the December edition of the College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA)'s Division II Top 25 dual meet poll, which was released on Friday.

The Maverick men are ranked third, equal to their program best.

Both teams moved up from the No. 6 spots they had held in the November edition of the monthly poll.  CMU's women were also ranked No. 1 in the October preseason edition and had ended the 2023 calendar year ranked first before going on to finish a program-best second at last year's NCAA Division II Championships.

The Maverick women received 246 points in the polling of the CSCAA's Division II Women's Poll Committee, made up of Division II coaches.  The men's poll committee gave the Maverick men 271.
 
The committees evaluate and ranks the nation's top 25 dual meet teams based on several factors. These include head-to-head dual meet results, performances since the last rankings, season-long achievements, dual meet records, roster changes (such as injuries), and data from the SwimCloud Simulator. It's important to note that the poll is not intended to predict top finishers in a championship meet format.

The women's poll had a lot of shake-up at the top as former No. 1 Grand Valley State slid all the way to sixth, where the Mavs were last month.  Indianapolis (240 points.) and Drury (234) remained in the second and third spots while Tampa flipped spots with fellow Sunshine State Conference foe Nova Southeastern, which won last year's national title.  Tampa has 213 points so sit ahead of the Sharks, who garnered 211 point.

Grand Valley has 201 and its well ahead of the rest of the top ten made up of Wingate (185), West Florida (182), Northern Michigan (171) and Lynn (163).

Three other Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference teams are also ranked amongst the top 25 in No. 13 Simon Fraser, No. 21 Colorado School of Mines and No. 25 Oklahoma Christian.

Drury has taken over the top spot in the men's poll with 295 points.  The Panthers were ranked third in November and leap-frogged Tampa, which still sits second with 289 points in the December poll.

The Mavericks received 271 and moved past defending national champion Indianapolis (269) and Grand Valley (255), which remained in the No. 4 and 5 spots of the poll, respectively.

Former No. 1 McKendree has dropped to sixth with 241 points while Wingate (227), St. Cloud State (213), Northern Michigan (195) and Lewis (193) round out the top 10.

Simon Fraser and Mines, ranked 18^th and 25^th, respectively, are also included in the poll while Oklahoma Christian is receiving votes.

The Mavericks have fared well in two invitational meets over the recent weeks but will resume dual meet action when they begin the 2025 portion of the campaign on Jan. 10 at Division I Utah.