At the top of their game
Women’s club rugby
The Mines Orediggers women’s club rugby team has made history, capturing the program’s first-ever national title.
The Orediggers beat defending champion Endicott College 38-29 in the final of the National Collegiate Rugby Division III Championship in Houston on Dec. 7 to claim the
2025 title.
Sophomore Piper Lee was named the Championship MVP for her four conversions and one try in the final, which featured back-and-forth momentum swings before Lee delivered the decisive try and conversion with just minutes left.
“This team has put their blood, sweat and tears on the line, and seeing all that work finally pay off is incredibly rewarding,” said Lee, also a finalist for the Division III 2025 Women’s Player of the Year Award. “In past years, we’ve gotten so close to the top, always right there but never quite finishing it. Finally breaking through shows the true perseverance and grit this team has. It wasn’t luck—it was years of growth, commitment and belief.”
The Orediggers made the national finals for the first time in program history in 2024, falling to Endicott in that match before reversing the outcome this year to lift the trophy for Mines.
“This has been our goal since the beginning of the season,” team captain Aliya Lynn said. “As the clock was counting to zero, I just felt such pure joy for our coach, my teammates, alumni and everybody who has supported our program. It was a moment to be grateful for the entire season, and honestly unexplainable.”
“This has been a historic season, and speaking for our seniors, it was the best last ride that we could’ve asked for,” Lynn said. “This is one of the best programs to have been involved in at Mines and has made my experience so much better.”
Women’s soccer
The Mines women’s soccer team captured the program’s 11th Rocky Mountain Athletics Conference Women’s Soccer Championship title in the fall 2025 season over top seeded Colorado Mesa University.
Playing nearly the entire match down a player after an early red card, the Orediggers showed grit on both ends of the field. Callie Fuhr converted a second-half penalty kick for the match’s lone goal, while goalkeeper Allie Lundgren turned in a heroic performance, anchoring a defense that refused to break under pressure. The championship victory capped a resilient postseason run and underscored the Orediggers’ ability to rise to the moment, celebrating a title earned through discipline and a last-minute change in strategy with a final score of 1-0.
Women’s cross country
The Mines women’s cross country team delivered an impressive performance at the 2025 NCAA Division II Cross Country Championships, finishing second in the nation and marking the best team performance by an Oredigger team in any sport ever.
Grace Strongman led the way with an individual runner-up finish in the 6K race—the highest in program history—while Emily LaMena, Lexi Herr, Sierra Wall and Margaux Basart earned All-American honors to secure the podium finish. All five scoring runners placed inside the top 40 in a highly competitive national field.
The historic finish for Mines’ women adds to a run of high-level success which started with the Orediggers’ first team podium in 2019. Since then, the Mines women have finished third in the nation three times, in 2019, 2022, and 2023. They first qualified for the NCAA meet as a team in 2003 and have now appeared at 10 consecutive NCAA championships and 14 total. This marked the 20th straight appearance for Mines’ men at the DII race. There was no NCAA Division II Cross Country Championship race in the fall of 2020.
For more on Mines Athletics, visit minesathletics.com.
