GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.— Coming off another strong season, the Colorado Mesa University Mavericks are eager to get 2025-26 swimming and diving season off to a fast start and will host NCAA Division I rival BYU and fellow Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference foe Adams State in this weekend's Intermountain Shootout.
 
Concurrent action both in the swimming race pool and the diving well will begin at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, a 30-minute change from the original start time, and at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday.
 
Both days will be scored as separate meets under an invitational scoring system with the top eight finishers in each event earning team points.
 
The event schedule can be seen in the meet information packet.
 
Live results can be accessed here or with a subscription to MeetMobile.
 
Live streams of the entire meet can be seen with a subscription to the RMAC Network.  There will be separate streams for the swimming and diving events so fans wanting to watch both at the same time will need separate screens or devices.  In addition to the season-long options, a daily subscription can be purchased and would allow fans to watch both the swimming and diving streams.  Those daily subscriptions will go on sale 12 hours before the meet.
 
More information about the RMAC Network can be found below.
 
RMAC Network News
 
The RMAC Network has moved to a pay-pre-view model for the upcoming 2025-26 season.  This season, all RMAC athletic events broadcast by its 15 full-member institutions and associate members will only be available for purchase via a single-game pass or a monthly or annual subscription. Revenue generated by the network will be redistributed to the league's membership to enhance their programs.
 
RMAC fans can purchase monthly and annual subscriptions that will provide them access to all regular-season, championship, and archived broadcasts on the RMAC Network. A monthly subscription costs $25, and an annual subscription costs $130. Single-day passes are available for $10, which grants access to a particular day of coverage and are valid for 24 hours from the time of purchase.
 
Additionally, a discounted annual subscription price will be available to students, faculty, and staff of each member institution throughout the year. Purchasing options and pricing for individual RMAC Championships will be announced closer to each event.
 
Meet Format
 
Each day's competition will be scored as a separate meet and will be conducted under an invitational style scoring system that awards team points to the top eight finishers in each event.  Individual events will be scored on a 9-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 point basis.  The relays are worth double with 18 points going to first place.
 
Teams will be limited to four scorers in each individual event but are permitted to enter as many athletes as they wish.  Similarly, they may enter as many relays as desired but only the "A" and "B" teams will score.
 
Individual swimmers are permitted to score in up to four events, including relays, during each day.
 
Twenty-two events (11 for each gender) will be contested each day.
 
Psych Sheets
 
The psych sheets for this weekend's meets, based on entries and corrections from the three coaching staffs, and received by Thursday morning, can be found here (FRIDAY | SATURDAY).  Entry times were based on lifetime and altitude-adjusted times.
 
A look back to 2024-25
 
The Mavericks swept the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference titles for the seventh straight year before going on to post more strong finishes at the NCAA Division II Championships.  The CMU women finished third as a team at the national meet and combined to win three national titles, including defense of their title in the 400 medley relay.  CMU's men took ninth place to lead all RMAC teams.
 
The Mavericks competed mainly against NCAA Division I opposition throughout the season seeing only the CSU Pueblo women and the Colorado School of Mines Orediggers in meets during the first half of the season prior to the conference and national meets.
 
At the RMAC Championships, the Mavericks combined to win 27 gold and 62 total medals in the 42 events.
 
The Mavs then claimed 82 total all-America honors at the NCAA meet.
 
Award-Winners
 
Fittingly, the Mavericks brought in quite a haul of post-season awards at both the national and conference level last year.
 
Five Maverick athletes received the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference's major awards at the end of the 2024-25 season.
 
On the men's side, team captain Andrew Scoggin, who has since graduated, was named as the RMAC Swimmer of the Year while Ryan Campbell was named as the Men's Diver of the Year.  Kenya Meyer was named as the RMAC Women's Diver of the Year.
 
The Mavs also swept the RMAC Freshman of the Year awards with Richard Schmiedefeld and Kendyll Wilkinson receiving the men's & women's awards.
 
The Mavs also brought in a boatload of academic awards as Meyer and Dejan Urbanek swept the RMAC Academic Athlete of the Year honors while leading a group of 19 Maverick First Team Academic All-RMAC selections.
 
The Mavericks also led the country with the maximum eight possible (four men, four women) College Sports Communicators Academic All-America® selections.  Meyer, Kiara Borchardt and Ada Qunell return in 2025-26 from that list.
 
The Mavs also led the country with 39 CSCAA Scholar All-Americans while the Maverick men won the RMAC's Brechler Award for having the highest team GPA in the conference.
 
Returning National Champs
 
Antonia Leese, Kiara Borchardt and Ada Qunell all return as members of the Mavs' women's 400-yard medley relay team that won the NCAA title for the second straight time in 2025.  Borchardt and Qunell were also members of the 2024 winning team
 
Qunell, a 4-time national champion, also helped the Mavs win the 200 and 400 Freestyle relay teams in 2024.  Elli Williams also returns for her senior season after teaming with Qunell and others on those winning teams.
 
National Championship Run
 
Excluding, 2020 when the national championship meet was canceled 1 ½ days in due to the initial stages of the COVID pandemic, the Mavericks have won at least one national championship event every year since 2018, a streak they will hope to continue into 2026.
 
All-American List
 
The Mavericks roster or returning all-Americans is quite lengthy and impressive.
 
The Mavericks had a program-record 30 different individuals combine for 82 CSCAA All-America honors at last year's championships.  The Mavericks return 20 of those people to this year's roster and have 21 total returning all-Americans on this year's roster, including one who earned honors in 2023.
 
The returning group from 2025 earned a combined total of 44 all-America honors last year, which go to the top 16 finishers in each event at the national championships, last season.  The top eight finishers earn first team honors while the ninth through 16^th place finishers are Second Team/Honorable Mention selections.
 
Here's a list of CMU's returning all-Americans along with the number of honors each received in 2025 and the total number in their career.
 
Women
Kiara Borchardt (3/9)
Talia Datillo (1/1)
Olivia Hansson (5/10)
Taylar Hooton (1/1)
Reagan Horn (1/1)
Antonia Leese (3/3)
Mimi Licht (1/1)
Kenya Meyer (1/1)
Sydnee O'Neil (2/2)
Ada Qunell (4/13)
Hanna Sasivarevic (1/1)
Kendyll Wilkinson (3/3)
Elli Williams (3/7)
 
Men
Ryan Campbell (2/2)
Wyatt Hermanson (0/2)
Marcos Otero (1/2)
David Roethlisberger (2/2)
Luka Samsonov (3/3)
Richard Schmiedefeld (5/5)
Gavyn Tatge (1/1)
Ben Vester (1/1)
 
Preseason Polls
 
Both Maverick teams were unanimous selections to win their eighth straight RMAC crowns according to last week's Preseason Coaches' Polls.  The Maverick women received all eight of the possible first place votes they could receive to top the poll with 64 points ahead of Simon Fraser, which had 56 points and the first place vote from CMU Coach Mickey Wender.
 
Eight points were awarded for first place votes as each of the conference's nine coaches were asked to rank their opposition 1-8 without voting for their own squad.
 
The Maverick men picked up all five of their possible first place votes to top the poll with 25 points ahead of Mines, which took second in the poll with 20 points while receiving Wender's first place vote.  There are six men's teams in the conference and coaches were asked to rank their opposition 1-5.
 
The CSCAA's National Dual Meet Polls are slated for release once per month, beginning on Oct. 17.
 
Preseason All-RMAC
 
The RMAC also announced a Preseason All-RMAC team, made up of the top returning finisher in each individual event from last year's RMAC Championships.
 
Nine Maverick women combined for 14 of the 16 possible spots on the team while the Maverick men had four selections.
 
RMAC Domination
 
Although the Mavericks have focused their efforts against NCAA Division I opponents in recent years, something they will do again this year, they have gradually extended winning streaks when meeting up with their fellow RMAC foes.
 
In addition to sweeping the last seven conference championship titles, both Maverick will carry lengthy RMAC dual meet winning streaks in to the 2025-26 season.
 
The Maverick women have won 36 consecutive duals against RMAC foes, a streak that dates back to Jan. 22, 2016.  They are not slated to contest any official duals this year.
 
However, the Mav women are scheduled to meet up with Adams State this week and the Colorado School of Mines during next month's TYR Invitational (Nov. 19-22).  The Maverick divers are also slated to compete against Mines in a Nov. 22 dual at the end of the invitational.
 
The Maverick men will also face Adams State this week and will compete in a Oct. 25 dual at Mines before the aforementioned TYR and Mines diving duals.  They have won 13 straight RMAC duals since the 2016-17 season.
 
The Mavs have not finished behind any RMAC foe in any format since the start of 2018-19 and are unbeaten by RMAC opposition under the direction of now seventh-year head coach Mickey Wender.
 
Division I Schedule
 
As in recent years, Maverick Head Coach Mickey Wender has built a schedule that will pit the Mavericks against many of the top programs in the Mountain Time Zone and the Western United States as a whole.  The Maverick women are slated to compete against NCAA Division I foes in each of their first eight regular season meets leading into the RMAC and NCAA Division II Championships.
 
The Maverick men will face Division I opposition in six of their first eight.
 
After this weekend's pair of competitions, which includes competition against Big 12 Conference foe BYU, the Maverick women will take on both Colorado State and Denver in Fort Collins on Friday, Oct. 24 while the CMU men will head to Golden for a RMAC dual on Saturday, Oct. 25.
 
Both Mav teams will then head to Salt Lake City to take on a second Big 12 foe in Utah on Halloween (Oct. 31).
 
CMU's women will race against Northern Arizona during the CMU Invitational, which will also include Mines.
 
The Mavs will then wrap up the first semester at the Dec. 15-17 UNLV Invitational.
 
In January, the Mavs will take on Denver and Wyoming on Jan. 17 in Denver and will meet up with BYU and Air Force on Jan. 23 and 24.
 
CMU's divers are also slated to go to Flagstaff, Arizona for Northern Arizona's Lumberjack Diving Invitational (Jan. 29-31).
 
The Friendly Confines
 
The Mavericks will once again host the RMAC Championships, doing so for the seventh straight year in February (Feb. 10-14).
 
The Mavs also hosted the championship meet for five straight years from 2013-17 after first hosting in 2011.
 
Including the RMAC Championships and this week's two meets, the Mavericks are slated to take full advantage of the top-level El Pomar Natatorium, as they will home for six different meets this year.
 
Colorado Mesa turns 100
 
The CMU Century Celebration stands as the cornerstone of Colorado Mesa University's year-long centennial celebration. This ambitious initiative unites our community in honoring a rich heritage while boldly envisioning the next hundred years of academic excellence.

Led by the Steering Committee and six specialized sub-committees, we're orchestrating a transformative experience that will resonate through generations. Each committee brings unique expertise to create an unforgettable commemoration of our past, present and future.
 
To learn more about Colorado Mesa's 100-year celebration, visit cmucentury.com.