Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference has announced the addition of Simon Fraser University as an associate member for men’s and women’s swimming in addition to men’s wrestling beginning in the 2023-24 academic year. The announcement of three more Simon Fraser athletic programs being added as RMAC associate members follows the recent announcement of SFU as a charter member of the league’s newly formed women’s wrestling league.
 
“The RMAC is delighted to welcome Simon Fraser as an associate member in three more league sports,” said RMAC Commissioner Chris Graham. “The addition of a sixth men’s swimming program caps a long road back to full Division II sponsorship in that sport. The quality of all three Red Leaf programs, including women’s swimming and men’s wrestling brings strong competition and collegiality to the RMAC.”
 
The addition of Simon Fraser’s men’s swimming program brings the RMAC’s membership level to six programs, while the SFU women’s swim team increases the league’s membership to nine programs. Following the addition of the Simon Fraser men’s wrestling program, the RMAC men’s wrestling league now stands at nine members.
 
“It’s great news for our program and our student-athletes,” said SFU Swimming head coach Demone Tissira. “This conference affiliation will enable our entire team to experience a championship season and will be a stepping stone to the NCAA Championships. The RMAC schools have strong teams and fast swimmers, so competing against them will help push our athletes to swim faster and improve our national rankings.”
 
The Red Leafs have shown have been among the NCAA Division II men’s and women’s swimming and diving ranks, having earned a combined 14 appearances at the NCAA DII Championships since 2013. The men’s program registered its best finish at the 2019 championships with a ninth-place finish, while the women’s team locked up its best finish in program history with eighth place at the 2022 event.
 
Mackenzie Hamill (2016) and Collyn Gagne (2022) have earned national titles for the Simon Fraser men’s program in the 1,650-yard freestyle and the 400-yard IM, respectively. Mariya Chekanovych produced a national title for the women’s program in the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststroke events in the 2013 season. All told, Simon Fraser has produced a combined 26 All-American student-athletes between their men’s and women’s programs.

“We have been wrestling schools in the RMAC since we entered the NCAA, but never all in one year,” said SFU men’s wrestling head coach Justin Abdou. “We are looking forward to the challenge of competing against the quality competition and some of the best programs in the NCAA in a conference dual meet schedule. We are also looking forward to developing rivalries with these schools and the opportunity for our student-athletes to earn conference recognition.”
 
Since 2013, Simon Fraser has qualified seven student-athletes for the NCAA Division II Wrestling Championship with two of those competitors making multiple appearances throughout their collegiate careers. Of the Red Leafs’ nine national qualifiers, five competitors have placed among the top five within their respective weight classes. Skylor Davis registered a 3-1 record at the 2013 championship to secure third place in the 125-pound weight class, while Morgan Smith went 5-1 in the 197-pound class in 2018 for a third-place finish of his own.