Adams State and Colorado Mines remained atop the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference podiums on Saturday in Colorado, but the two schools posted reverse finishes compared to 2024.
Colorado Mines had won the past six RMAC men’s cross country titles and eight of the last nine. Adams State has won the last four league women’s championships and placed on top of the podium 12 of the previous 13 years. RESULTS
On Saturday in Colorado Springs, the Oredigger men finished second to Adams State in the men’s 8-kilometer race. At the same time, the Colorado Mines women bested the Grizzlies in the 6-kilometer event at the north end of Monument Valley Park. RMAC ALL-TIME RESULTS
The Adams State men compiled 32 team points with finishes of second, fourth, fifth, eighth, and 13th, giving them a nine-point advantage over the Orediggers, who placed first, third, ninth, 11th, and 17th to tally 41 points.
Entering Saturday’s event, Colorado Mines was the top-ranked men’s team in NCAA Division II, with Adams State third. Saturday’s championship trophy was the 37th for the Adams State men, its 35th outright.
Individually, for the men, senior Paul Knight of Mines finished over five seconds ahead of senior Kidus Begashaw of Adams State with an 8k clocking of 23 minutes, 50.43 seconds. Begashaw finished with a time of 23:55.94. Knight is the fifth Mines man to win an RMAC title.
In the women’s race, Mines won its first RMAC title by outscoring Adams State by 56 points (28 to 84). Sandwiched between the two cross-country powers was UC Colorado Springs as the Mountain Lions tallied 68 team points.
Led by senior Grace Strongman, the Mines posted first, third, seventh, eighth, and ninth place finishes, with UCCS placing sixth, 10th, 15th, 17th, and 20th, and Adams finishing second, 14th, 18th, 19th, and 31st.
Strongman is the second Mines woman to win the individual title, covering the 6k course in 20 minutes, 6.67 seconds. Freshman Tristian Spence of Adams State was over eight seconds behind at 20:14.85.
