With the regular season wrapped up, the cross country teams are preparing for the RMAC Championships this weekend.

In three events this season, the men’s squad took fourth in a field of 17 at the UC-Riverside Invitational, third at the Rocky Mountain Shootout and fourth at its last meet in Gunnison at the Mountaineer Open.

The women’s team had similar results, finishing fourth at the UC-Riverside Invitational and Mountaineer Open but taking second at the Rocky Mountain Shootout.

Shane Niksic will once again be a top performer for CMU, running in the top five for the Mavs alongside John Cusick, Danny Vavrick, Zak Kennison and Seth Knighton.

The women’s top runners will be Shannon Emery, Haley Kramer, Lauren Lipski, Chelsea Lyons, Lexi Russell, and Melissa Bauer.

“The RMAC is by far the toughest conference in the country,” Niksic said. “Being such a young team, we are really happy with what we have accomplished so far. If we can get fifth in this event, we have a shot at making it to Nationals with three of our top five being freshman.”

Of the 12 athletes on the men’s roster, nine are freshman, and in a very unforgiving conference, the Mavericks could be a huge surprise with a strong showing this weekend.

ksparkhu@mavs.coloradomesa.edu