COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Chadron State softball has been picked to finish 11th out of 12 teams in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, according to the preseason poll based on voting by the league's head coaches. 

The Eagles received 30 voting points in the poll, just two points behind 10th-place Fort Lewis and five points behind ninth-place New Mexico Highlands. The Eagles were 14 points clear of 12th-place Adams State.

Chadron State finished 22-28 overall last season and were ninth in the conference standings with an 18-26 RMAC record, but the Eagles will have a new look after graduating nine seniors and hiring a new coach. 

Colorado Christian, the reigning RMAC regular season and tournament champs, were picked to win the league again, receiving 7 of 12 first-place votes. Colorado Mesa placed second in the poll, receiving three first-place votes, while MSU Denver came third and garnered the other two first-place votes. 

The rest of the poll features UCCS, CSU Pueblo, Colorado School of Mines, Black Hills State and Regis rounding out the top eight. Chadron State is scheduled to host six of the top seven teams in the preseason poll at home this season.

Taking the helm of CSC for 2026 is new head coach Skye Koehl, who joins the Eagles after two seasons as head coach at Otero Junior College, where she compiled a 34-14 conference record and had two top three regional finishes. 

STORY: Skye Koehl Named CSC Head Softball Coach

Koehl will be joined on the coaching staff by Kayla Campuzano, who has been an assistant coach at CSC since 2019, and graduate assistant Ashland Baca, a former RMAC First-Team All-Academic selection who concluded her playing career with Chadron State last spring.

Among the returners for the Eagles are pitcher Belle Akins, who threw the second no-hitter in program history as a true freshman in 2025, and sluggers Sophia Brennan (7 HR) and Brogan Allen (5 HR, .831 OPS). Outfielder Aliyah Rothstein returns to the roster after earning All-RMAC Honorable Mention honors last season but is still recovering from a knee injury that ended her 2025 season prematurely. 

The Eagles will open the season with a five-game trip to Texas, taking on Saint Martin's (Wash.), Texas A&M International, St. Mary's (Tex.), UT Tyler and Angelo State from January 30-February 1. UT Tyler are the reigning Division II national champions and will enter 2026 ranked No. 1 in the country according to the NFCA Coaches Poll.

Chadron State will also participate in an in-state triangular, facing Nebraska-Kearney and Wayne State two times each on February 7-8 in Wayne. Chadron State's home opener is scheduled to be a non-conference doubleheader against Sioux Falls before the Eagles open RMAC play at home vs. CSU Pueblo on February 21-22. 

Other scheduled RMAC home series for the Eagles include UCCS (March 7-8), Black Hills State (March 14-15), Colorado Christian (March 28-29), Colorado School of Mines (April 11-12) and Colorado Mesa (April 25-26).