The national title-winning Colorado School of Mines men’s cross-country runners aren’t just at the top of the podium.
They’re at the top of the classroom, too.
The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference recently announced the 2024-25 Brechler Award winners, recognizing the top-performing academic teams across the conference’s 22 sponsored sports.
The Mines men’s cross country and men’s indoor track & field teams were among the winners.
Regis and Colorado Mesa led the member universities, with four recipient teams each. Chadron State followed with three, and Mines tied Black Hills State and Westminster with two each.
The Mines men’s cross country team’s win is the program’s first since the award was established in 2012-13, the Orediggers confirmed in a recent press release.
The two Mines teams and the other the Brechler Award-winning teams were scheduled to be recognized at the July 10 RMAC awards banquet in Colorado Springs.
This year’s Brechler Awards, named after former RMAC Commissioner Paul W. Brechler, was based on the highest team GPA from the 2024-25 academic year, the RMAC described in its press release.
The team GPA includes all student-athletes who were on the institution’s NCAA eligibility list, and is calculated by dividing the total quality points for each semester by the total number of credits.
The Mines men’s cross country team produced a 3.595 GPA, Mines Athletics confirmed, while the men’s indoor track & field team had a 3.563 GPA — winning its second-straight Brechler Award and fifth overall.
Several Orediggers compete on both teams, as well as on the outdoor track & field team.
In fall 2024, the Mines men’s cross country team went undefeated on the race course. The Orediggers swept the RMAC and NCAA Regional titles and eventually won their fourth NCAA Division II championship in 10 years.
Then, for the indoor track & field season, the Orediggers had their best-ever finish at the NCAA Division II championships with six individual podium finishes and a third-place team trophy.
Right now, the Mines runners are on summer break, but official practices resume next month. Then, both the men’s and women’s cross country teams kick off their 2025 competition schedule Sept. 20 at Denver’s Washington Park.
For more information, including Colorado School of Mines’ 2025-26 athletic calendar, visit MinesAthletics.com.