CMC Leadville and Salida campus leader accepts college president role in Oregon

CMC Leadville and Salida campus leader accepts college president role in Oregon After nearly ten years with Colorado Mountain College, Rachel Pokrandt, vice president and campus dean of the Leadville and Salida campuses, has accepted the role of President at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon. “This is a bittersweet moment for me because I absolutely love the Leadville and Salida communities and our amazing, dedicated faculty, staff and students,” Pokrandt said. “We have the most innovative and dedicated people at both campuses and I look forward to following their successes in the years to come. They all have students and community at the heart of everything they do and I see a bright future ahead.” Pokrandt has been vice president and campus dean of the CMC Leadville Campus since 2016. During her tenure in Leadville, she created teams that stabilized campus finances, created partnerships in the community and raised enrollment and graduation rates. Prior to her time in Leadville, Pokrandt served CMC as the campus dean in Rifle and as an assistant dean of instruction in Edwards. Pokrandt facilitated the college’s efforts to build partnerships in the communities of Salida and Poncha Springs, which led to citizens voting overwhelmingly to join the CMC special taxing district in 2019. The opening of the Salida Campus was historic for CMC. The college hadn’t opened a new campus in nearly 40 years. “We are grateful for Rachel’s tireless efforts serving the communities of Salida and Poncha Springs,” said Salida resident David Armstrong, who serves as a liaison to the CMC Board of Trustees. “Thanks to Rachel’s hard work establishing CMC’s team and campus, our local high school students are now able to earn college credit through CMC, and next month we’ll celebrate our first graduating class of college students from CMC Salida.… Read more: CMC Leadville and Salida campus leader accepts college president role in Oregon

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Eagles compete on ‘grand’ scale

Eagles compete on ‘grand’ scale Seven men and two women from Colorado Mountain College’s cross-country running team competed at the Colorado Mesa University XC Invitational on Oct. 10 at Lincoln Park in Grand Junction. As the only National Junior College Athletic Association school at the meet, CMC joined a highly competitive field, which included 145 top runners from a total of seven Colorado universities and colleges. Amid stiff competition, Jason Macaluso of Vail was CMC’s overall top finisher in the men’s 8K. In a field of 87 competitors, Macaluso ran a season best time of 28:21, coming in 63rd place. Four out of seven CMC Eagles ran their personal bests: Luke Plummer in 74th (29:04), Autry Lomahongva in 76th (29:25), Reese Fledderjohn in 82nd (30:37) and Adam Garcia in 85th (30:58). Rounding out the team was Skyler Winter in 84th place (30:56) (a personal record) and Dylan Dunbar in 87th (33:24). Top finisher Taylor Stack of Western Colorado University crossed the finish line in 24:19. Also competing was CMC alum and former CMC team member Chris Rolf of Summit County, who’s now running for Fort Lewis College. He ran a 29:40 and finished in 77th place. Kya Jackson and Madisen Johnson from Colorado Mountain College represented the college’s women’s team in the 5K against a field of 58 women. Jackson turned in a 24:08 and Johnson ran a 24:14. The team plans to compete at the Region 9 Championships in Alamosa on Oct. 31.

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