COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference released its Preseason Coaches Polls for both men's and women's cross country on Thursday, with Chadron State coming in at No. 11 on the women's side and No. 14 on the men's side.
The poll is voted on by the league's head coaches, who rank the other 14 programs without including their own team. The coaches project a continued upward trajectory for the women's team, who have finished 12
that each of the last two RMAC Championships after being picked 13
th and 12
th in the last two preseasons.
The Chadron State women will be experienced, with five seniors on the roster in
Katelyn Beshara,
Ivy Hise,
Izabella Miller,
Samantha Rodewald and
Zelma Rudd. Those five – along with current junior
Kyndall Carnahan – competed for the Eagles at this past year's NCAA regional.
Rodewald, who hails from McCook, Nebraska, is a reigning RMAC All-Academic First Team selection and recorded two top-10 individual finishes, including at the Yellowjackets/Battlin' Bears Open where the Eagle women won the team title.
The men's side features fewer veterans, with a single senior in Conifer, Colorado's
Wyatt Bly. A pair of sophomores,
Kaden Boltz and
Boady Hunter, were among CSC's scoring five at both the RMAC meet and the regional meet last year as true freshmen.
The men come in 14
th in the 2026 preseason after being picked 13
th in the conference and finishing 13
thlast season. That was an improvement over a 14
th place finish at the 2024 RMAC Championships.
The Eagle cross country program is under new leadership as Creighton Trembly takes the stage as Interim Head Coach for both cross country and track and field for the 2026-27 season. Trembly spent the past season as a hurdles and jumps coach on staff at CSC and competed for the Eagles as a student-athlete from 2020-2025.
Chadron State opens its 2026 cross-country season at the Gage McSpadden Memorial Invitational in Spearfish on Friday, September 11. The Eagles will then compete at South Dakota Mines's course on September 18, in a preview of the RMAC Championships held in Rapid City on Saturday, November 7.
The Eagles will return to the Yellowjacket/Battlin' Bears Open in Billings, Montana on October 9, an event the women's team won last season, before the Mount Marty Open on October 22.
After the RMAC Championships on November 7, the NCAA Cross Country South Central Regionals are set to take place on Saturday, November 21 in Lubbock, Texas.
