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COLORADO SPRINGS – A historic Saturday saw the Colorado School of Mines women's cross country team win its first-ever Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championship as Grace Strongman won individual gold in record-setting fashion with Paul Knight racing to the men's crown.
 
The Oredigger women dominated the elite field at Monument Valley Park North, totaling 28 points thanks to all five scorers finishing top-10. Runner-up UCCS tallied 68 points. Strongman's course-record 6K of 20:06.7 fueled her RMAC Runner of the Year performance. Head Coach Chris Siemers was voted RMAC Women's Cross Country Coach of the Year after the race. On the men's side, Knight paced the Orediggers as RMAC Runner of the Year while also breaking the 8K course record at a 23:50.5 clip. His effort anchored a team score of 41 as Mines' men finished runner-up, just nine points behind champion Adams State. Cody Wyman earned RMAC Freshman of the Year after finishing 20th as the top true or redshirt freshman in the field.
 
Overall, the Oredigger women touted eight all-conference finishes. Strongman, Emily LaMena, Margaux Basart, Callen Nash, Sierra Wall, and Gabi Boeckman were First-Team All-RMAC. Katie Price and Lexi Herr were Second-Team All-RMAC. All nine of Mines' men were all-conference as well. Knight, Jeremiah Vaille, Daniel Appleford, and Max Bonenberger finished with First-Team All-RMAC distinction. Ethan Grolnic, Charlie Welch, Wyman, Chandler Wilburn, and Braden Struhs garnered Second-Team All-RMAC recognition. The cherry on top of the historic day was Margaux Basart winning the RMAC Summit Award for the highest cumulative grade-point average (GPA, undergraduate only) at the championships.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
An early start to the day came with the Monument Valley Park Open Race which was technically hosted by UCCS. Mines showcased its depth and youth in the open race with 31 total runners between the men and women. The precursor to the championship was a thrilling affair for the Orediggers in its own regard and fans can learn more about that below. Once all 163 open runners had finished, the women's championship 6K was next on the docket.
 
At the sound of the second gun of the day, 125 women made the dash towards the first bridge on the course at Monument Valley Park North course with visions of RMAC glory presumably going through their minds. An early stride and lead pack were set, and the pace was blazing. After 2,000 meters, Strongman and LaMena had settled in with ASU's Tristian Spence as the top trio. Nash, Basart and Wall were well-established with the second grouping. As the racing progressed, Strongman appeared to content to hang out with Spence and LaMena. However, as runners made their final pass along the Pikes Peak Greenway Trail along Monument Creek, Strongman dropped the hammer. She surged down the last straightaway and final turn, pushing to an eight-second victory over Tristian Spence while dropping the course record by more than a minute. LaMena was on Spence's heels, taking third. Then, it was Basart, Nash, and Wall going 7-8-9 to clinch the crown. Competitors continued to sprint and stumble (from exhaustion) across the line with Boeckman finishing 12, Price 25th, Herr 27th, and Friedman 47th. Evidence of the previously mentioned blazing pace came with the top seven runners all breaking the 6K course record.
 
The final race of the day, the men's 8K, brought the pop of the gun and a mad scramble down the opening straightaway. As the scrum approached the bridge, Mines' white uniforms with navy stripes and a flash of "Colorado Red" flashed firmly at the front. The 2K split saw a large stampede at the front which included all nine Orediggers with Knight in the lead by less than a second. Just after 4K, Knight and the Grizzlies' Kidus Begashaw had slightly separated from the field, but Vaille and Grolnic were not far behind. Once the race reached the 6K mark, Knight had pulled ahead for good with five other Mines runners in the top-20 as well. Unfortunately for the Orediggers, a strong pack for Adams State accounted for five of the top-10 racers at the point. Knight still prevailed by five seconds and edged former 5K national champion Afewerki Zeru's course record by five seconds. Vaille grabbed individual bronze after the duel between Knight and Begashaw with Appleford ninth. A late fall by Bonenberger wouldn't keep the steeplechase all-American from First-Team All-RMAC honors as he placed 11th. Grolnic rounded out Mines' scorers in 17th. All nine Oredigger runners crossed the finish line before Adams State even had eight in the books.
 
In the open race earlier in the day, Jacob Schwarting starred for the Oreidgger men, finishing second only to three-time national champion Romain Legendre who was competing unattached. The margin between Schwarting and Legendre was less than seven seconds across 8,000 meters. Josie Mejia led the women's open contenders, taking 11th in 22:06.8. The rest of the women's entries in the open race included Sorrelle Salcido, Lilly Lukens, Chloe Savoy, Kara Tokubo, Maria Forster, Sasha Kelly, Imani Fernandez-Gorbea, Olivia Tallent, and Gabriela Kenly. The remaining men's runners in the first race of the day were Curtis Smela, Hayden Hooper, Garrett Mackey, Chris Pietrak, Cole Fioriollo, Calder Denham, Julian, Jack Sheehan, Kai Wagner, Gael McClain Martinez, Brock Drengenberg, Quinton Rodriguez, James Beam, Matt Mettler, Julian Frazier, Jackson Rogers, and Zach Dykstra.
 
NOTABLES
- Mines Athletics, as a whole, now boasts a conference championship in each of its 18 NCAA sponsored sports.
- The Oredigger women are just the third women's program to win a RMAC cross country title since 1981.
- Strongman is the first Mines woman to win individual gold since Zoe Baker in 2020. Baker was also the first Oredigger woman to win RMAC Runner of the Year and did it on the same course in Colorado Springs.
- Knight's previous RMAC cross country finishes were #3 in 2024, #5 in 2023, and #8 in 2022 when he was RMAC Freshman of the Year while racing in his hometown of Durango, Colo.
- Knight is the fifth Oredigger man to win RMAC Runner of the Year. Dan Mahoney, Grant Colligan, Dylan Ko and Dillon Powell combined for six other individual titles.
- Strongman's course record bested the previous mark set by Hannah Hartwell of Fort Lewis who finished fourth as an individual on Saturday.
- Strongman had not won a college race in cross country or track & field prior to 2025. Now, she owns individual gold at the national preview and at the RMAC championships.
- LaMena, Boeckman, Herr, Friedman, and Price all raced in their very first RMAC Cross Country Championship on Saturday.
- Sierra Wall's performance in Colorado Springs marked her collegiate cross country debut.
- There's probably more. Sorry if the author missed any.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
The Orediggers' next races are at the NCAA South Central Regional Championships on Saturday, Nov. 8, at Walking Stick Golf Course in Pueblo, Colo. A full preview and live coverage information will be available at www.minesathletics.com the week of the races.
 
Fans can keep up with Mines cross country on "X" (formerly Twitter) and Instagram at @csmtrack. They can also keep up with Colorado School of Mines Athletics all year long on Facebook, "X" and Instagram using the handle @MinesAthletics.