Adams State captures the top spot in the 2022 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Women’s Cross Country Preseason Poll, earning 14 first-place votes and 196 points. Colorado School of Mines receives the league’s final first-place vote and second place in the poll. The RMAC Women’s Cross Country Preseason Poll is voted on by the league’s 15 coaches. Coaches are not permitted to vote for their program.
The Grizzlies enter the 2022 season after a dominating performance in 2021 where they claimed their second consecutive national title, the program’s fourth since 2015. Adams State’s latest national championship came after the team earned 59 points with five runners placing among the top 20 individuals at the 2021 NCAA Division II Championship. In 2021, ASU also secured the RMAC championship and the NCAA DII South Central Regional title. Throughout the 2021 season, the Grizzlies earned four first-place team finishes, including their three-post season meets.
Mines receives one first-place vote and 177 points to clinch the second-place position in preseason voting. The Orediggers placed second at the 2021 RMAC Championship, followed by another runner-up finish at the NCAA South Central Regional Championship and fourth place at the NCAA Cross Country Championship.
University of Colorado Colorado Springs rounds out the top-three spots in preseason voting with 172 points. Western Colorado claims the fourth spot with 152 points, while Colorado State University Pueblo occupies fifth place with 132 points.
Colorado Christian receives 125 points for sixth place, just ahead of Metropolitan State University of Denver in seventh place with 114 points. Westminster collects 103 points for eighth place, followed by Black Hills State in ninth with 92 points.
Colorado Mesa claims the 10th-place spot with 90 points, while Fort Lewis enters the year in 11th place with 76 points. New Mexico Highlands gathers 49 points for 12th place, just ahead of Chadron State (42 points), South Dakota Mines (32 points) and New Mexico Highlands (24 points), which round out the poll.