COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The University of Colorado Colorado Springs softball team has been selected to finish fourth in the 2026 RMAC Softball Preseason Coaches' Poll after collecting a total of 87 points and five third-place votes. The program also had a trio of student-athletes named to the Preseason All-RMAC Team, including sophomore Tayler McCombs and juniors Gianna Pancost and Jennavieve Goldsworth.
 
Colorado Christian University was voted as the conference's preseason favorite as they garnered seven first-place votes and four second-place votes for a total of 117 points. Colorado Mesa University secured the No. 2 position in the poll with 109 points and three first-place votes, while Metropolitan State University Denver grabbed the No. 3 position with two first-place votes and 102 points. Colorado State University Pueblo (75 points) and Colorado School of Mines (68 points) slotted into the coaches' poll just behind UCCS at Nos. 5 and 6, respectively, to fill the conference's final two projected playoff positions.
 
The preseason poll was voted on by each of the conference's 12 head coaches. Coaches could not vote for their own team.
 
The UCCS softball program took a significant leap forward in their second season under the tutelage of head coach Dwight Sanders in 2025 as they posted an overall record of 33-24, marking a 14-win improvement over the previous campaign. With a 24-17 record in conference play, the Mountain Lions secured the No. 5 seed in the RMAC Tournament and came up just one win shy of advancing to the tournament championship game. The Mountain Lions surpassed the 30-win threshold for just the sixth time in program history, and the 33 wins marked their most in a single season since the 2013 campaign.
 
Sanders and the Mountain Lions are set to return 15 players from last year's squad, highlighted by All-RMAC Second Team and D2CCA All-South Central Region Second Team honoree Gianna Pancost. In addition, UCCS has five players returning to the team who collected RMAC Honorable Mention recognition last season, including sophomores Halley Redd and Tayler McCombs and juniors Jacqueline Berkowitz, Laynee Case, and Jennavieve Goldsworth. Joining the Mountain Lions' strong returning core will be a group of 11 newcomers that includes six incoming freshman and five transfers.
 
The Mountain Lions had a trio of student-athletes named to the Preseason All-RMAC Team prior to the start of the season, with McCombs earning the accolade at first base, Pancost holding down the designated player spot, and Goldsworth collecting recognition as a utility.
 
McCombs composed an incredible debut season for the Mountain Lions last year as she appeared in 51 games at first base and posted the fifth-highest batting average in the conference at .404. A native of Gilbert, Ariz., McCombs posted a team-leading 1.113 OPS for the season as she recorded 16 doubles, five triples, five home runs, and 34 RBIs while drawing 17 walks against just 15 strikeouts. The first-year player recorded a team-high 15-game hitting streak from Feb. 16 through March 9 during which she posted a .563 batting average (27-for-48) with seven doubles, two triples, four home runs, and 12 RBIs. McCombs was also a steady presence on the defensive side of the ball from her primary position at first base, posting a .977 fielding percentage with just seven errors across more than 300 total chances.
 
An All-RMAC Second Team and D2CCA All-South Central Region Second Team honoree last season, Pancost put together an exceptional sophomore campaign in which she posted a .341 batting average in 56 games as the Mountain Lions' primary designated player. Across 206 plate appearances, the native of Tucson, Ariz. finished tied for the team lead with 17 doubles while ranking second on the team with eight home runs and 42 RBIs. Pancost finished the season with the third-most hits (62), walks (16), and total bases (103) on the team while notching an impressive .398 on-base percentage and a .566 slugging percentage.
 
Goldsworth rounds out the Mountain Lions' Preseason All-RMAC selections after putting together a solid sophomore season as a utility player for the team last year. Despite missing a handful of games due to injury, Goldsworth proved to be a valuable and versatile player for the Mountain Lions throughout the campaign as she posted a .325 batting average with six doubles, five triples, two home runs, and 23 RBIs across 38 games played. The 5-foot-6 utility player ended the season as the Mountain Lions' leadoff hitter and did an outstanding job setting the table for the power bats in the lineup as she drew 13 walks and took four hit-by-pitches to boost her on-base percentage to .398. A member of the RMAC All-Tournament Team, Goldsworth finished the season on a 13-game hitting streak in which she batted .408 (20-for-49) with three doubles, one triple, and eight RBIs. Defensively, the Roseville, Calif. native also displayed excellent versatility as she opened the season as the team's primary third base player before moving to the outfield for the second half of the year.
 
The Mountain Lions will kick off the 2026 softball campaign next weekend when they travel to Los Lunas, N.M. to compete at the South Central Regional Crossover Tournament on Jan. 30 through Feb. 1. UCCS is set to open their home schedule the following weekend as the host school of the Southern Colorado Crossover Tournament, which will take place at Mountain Lion Field on Feb. 6-8.  
 

Institution	1sts	2nds	3rds	Points
1. Colorado Christian	7	4	-	117
2. Colorado Mesa	3	5	2	109
3. MSU Denver	2	2	5	102
4. UCCS	-	-	5	87
5. CSU Pueblo	-	-	-	75
6. Colorado School of Mines	-	-	-	68
7. Black Hills State	-	-	-	64
8. Regis	-	1	-	57
9. New Mexico Highlands	-	-	-	35
10. Fort Lewis	-	-	-	32
11. Chadron State	-	-	-	30
12. Adams State	-	-	-	16

2026 RMAC Softball Preseason All-Conference Team

Pos.	Player	School	Yr.	Hometown
P	Jessalyn Gallegos (FoTY, 2)	Colorado Mesa	R-So.	Anaheim, Calif.
P	Natalie Romero (2)	MSU Denver	Jr.	Anaheim, Calif.
C	Desi Hernandez (H)	Black Hills State	So.	Amarillo, Texas
1B	Tayler McCombs (H)	UCCS	So.	Gilbert, Ariz.
2B	Peyton Marvel (H)	Colorado Christian	So.	Lakewood, Colo.
3B	Carly Reyes Mims (H)	Black Hills State	So.	Meridian, Idaho
SS	Madelyn Huerta (2, G)	CSU Pueblo	Sr.	Azusa, Calif.
OF	Makayla Westmoreland (1)	Colorado Mesa	Sr.	Murrieta, Calif.
OF	Caitlyn Cole (1)	CSU Pueblo	Sr.	Merced, Calif.
OF	Kendall Aragon (2)	Colorado School of Mines	Sr.	Thornton, Colo.
DP	Gianna Pancost (2)	UCCS	Jr.	Tucson, Ariz.
UTL	Jennavieve Goldsworth (H)	UCCS	Jr.	Roseville, Calif.
UTP	Elyse McMullin (PoTY, 1)	Colorado Christian	Jr.	Issaquah, Wash.

*Symbols in parentheses are 2025 All-RMAC Recognitions:
PoTy was the Player of the Year
FoTY was the Freshman of the Year
1 -was a First Team All-RMAC selection
2 - was a Second Team All-RMAC selection
H - was an Honorable Mention All-RMAC selection
G- was a Gold Glove selection.
 
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