Results
 
RAPID CITY, S.D. – Dawson Gunn and Emily LaMena led the Colorado School of Mines men's and women's cross country teams Saturday morning at the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championships as Gunn won the men's title and LaMena won the women's championship.
 
Gunn anchored a second-place team finish for the Oredigger men after shattering the course 8K record in 23:17.3 He helped Mines score 48 points to finish only behind Adams State which posted 33 points. Gunn's time was more than 2:30 faster than the previous course record of 25:56.50 set by Alberto Spotted in 2025. LaMena's gold-medal run also destroyed the course 6K record and pushed the Oredigger women to a fourth-place finish in the team standings. Mines' final point total was 69 as Western Colorado upset top-ranked Adams State to win the team championship. LaMena's 20:38.2 was over 3:00 faster than Zena Tapia's 23:39.00 which was run in 2025 as well.
 
An open race on the Hart Ranch property at 8:15 a.m. Saturday morning set the stage for a pair of highly-touted, championship races. The men's 8K was first and Mines quickly established five runners in the lead pack. As runners reached the halfway mark, the Orediggers and Adams State were neck and neck each with five runners near the front and Gunn leading the way. That lead group started to spread out with ASU holding the team advantage. However, Gunn dropped the hammer on UCCS' Brett Davis and the Grizzlies' Chakib Cherkaoui Rhazouani to pull away for an uncontested first-place finish. He crossed the line more than eight seconds ahead of Davis and nearly 14 seconds ahead of Rhazouani. Cody Wyman was the next Oredigger to finish, taking fifth overall in 23:35.4. Daniel Appleford was on his tail in seventh with a 23:46.5 pace. Ethan Grolnic went 16th at a 24:05.9 clip and Braden Struhs was 19th in 24:19.9 to round out Mines' scoring. Andreas O'Malley and Cole Fiorillo were displacers for the Orediggers as Rowan Nicholas, Chris Pietrak, and Brock Drengenberg represented Mines as well.
 
The women's 6K was next and LaMena left no doubt. She rolled with the lead pack for the first third of the race before opening a 13-second gap through the middle third. There were no other runners in sight as LaMena came down the finishing chute – maintaining her 13-second lead in victory. Teammate Sierra Wall gave Mines two finishers in the top 10 by taking sixth in 21:12.7. The next pack of Orediggers to stop the clock included Josie Mejia in 19th, Callen Nash in 21st, and Gabi Boeckman in 22nd. Mejia clocked a 21:49.5 with Nash and Boeckman posting times of 21:52.0 and 21:52.4, respectively. With Mines' scoring in the books, Katie Price and Angela Friedman served as displacers in 27th and 31st. Jemma Petrie, Madison Miles, and Olivia Olson rounded out the Oredigger contingency in their first-ever conference championship race.
 
Gunn, Wyman, and Appleford were First-Team All-RMAC for the men thanks to top-14 finishes. LaMena and Wall were First-Team All-RMAC for the women. Grolnic, Struhs, O'Malley and Fiorillo provided Second-Team All-RMAC performances by placing inside the top 28. Mejia, Nash, Boeckman, and Price were Second-Team All-RMAC runners for the Oredigger women. Gunn's individual title marked the second straight Oredigger man to win RMAC gold after Paul Knight won it last season. LaMena's championship run made the same true for Mines' women after Grace Strongman tasted conference gold in 2025.
 
Mines now turns its focus to the NCAA South Central Regional Championships which will be run on Saturday, Nov. 21, in Lubbock, Texas.
 
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.