The Fort Lewis College softball team came in at No. 7 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches Poll, released by the conference this week.
The Skyhawks, who finished sixth last season en route to advancing to their first RMAC Tournament since 2014, received 58 vote points, coming in just behind the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs (61).
Colorado Mesa University earned the top spot, receiving nine first-place votes and 116 vote points as the defending regular season and RMAC Tournament champions.
Colorado Christian University (110 points) and Metropolitan State University of Denver (96) points were voted second and third, respectively, each earning one first-place vote. Colorado School of Mines and Regis University tied for fourth with 81 points to round out the top 5.
Colorado State University Pueblo came in at No. 8 with 57, followed by Chadron State (43), Adams State (40), New Mexico Highlands (26) and Black Hills State (23).
Fort Lewis will have a new look in 2022 under first year head coach Dwight Sanders, who will welcome six returners and 17 new players to the roster for this spring.
Sanders comes to Durango after five winning seasons and four postseason berths at Otero Junior College in La Junta, compiling an overall record of 114-76 during his tenure.
He guided the Rattlers to a 24-15 record last spring, with his team setting the school record for batting average (.423), placing three student-athletes on the NJCAA All-Region IX team, and sending six players on to NCAA Division II institutions.
Sanders demonstrated the ability to build deep and versatile rosters at OJC as the 2021 Rattlers ranked inside the top 25 nationally in eight different categories, including third in batting average (.423), sixth in triples (24) and on-base percentage (.491), and seventh in stolen bases (171). His team also shined in the classroom, sporting a 3.41 team GPA and placing a total of 17 student-athletes on the NJCAA Academic All-American teams.
Sanders was a Colorado prep baseball standout at Fountain Fort Carson High School from 2008-11, earning a scholarship to play at Claflin University in Orangeburg, South Carolina.
He transferred back home to Colorado State University Pueblo to finish his career from 2014-16, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. He went on to complete his master’s in business in May 2021.
The Skyhawks’ 2022 season gets underway Feb. 11-12 with a four-game tournament at the Lubbock Sports College Invitation, hosted by Lubbock Christian University.
The Fort Lewis College women’s lacrosse team came in at No. 5 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll.
Regis University earned the top spot, receiving nine six-place votes and 36 vote points as the defending regular season and RMAC tournament champions.
Colorado Mesa (29 points) and UCCS (26 points) were voted second and third, respectively, while UCCS earned one first-place vote. Westminster received 18 votes, good for fourth in the rankings. FLC came in fifth with 17 points, followed by CSU Pueblo (15) and Adams State (6).
The Skyhawks, who finished 5-7 overall and 4-5 in RMAC play, are coming off an RMAC tournament semifinal appearance last spring. This was FLC’s first tournament appearance since the 2018 season.
Fort Lewis returns a strong core of contributors from last year’s team and has added nine newcomers to lift the roster total to 25 players for the 2022 season.
The Skyhawks get their 2022 season underway on March 4 with an RMAC game versus Westminster College in Salt Lake City, Utah.
