Burdge Takes the Helm of Mountaineer Athletics
Western Colorado University named Dr. Amber Burdge director of athletics in April, bringing an experienced administrator with a record of advancing student success, developing leaders, and guiding complex athletic programs to Gunnison.
Burdge came to Western from New Mexico State University, where she held several senior leadership roles and served as acting director of athletics for most of 2025. In that role, she led a department with 16 NCAA Division I sports and a $34 million budget while helping secure millions of dollars for facilities and operations.
Her career has also included leadership positions at Louisiana Tech University, Neosho County Community College, and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. In those roles, Burdge emphasized academic achievement, leadership development, and the overall student-athlete experience. At Western, she takes over a department with deep competitive traditions, growing facilities, and programs that continue to gain national recognition.
Mountaineers Announce Addition of Women’s Wrestling
Mountaineer women’s wrestling will make history this fall when they take the mat for their inaugural season as an NCAA Division II varsity sport.
Led by head coach Taylor Summers, who returned to Western in 2025 after previously serving five seasons as an assistant with the men’s program, the new team joins a wrestling tradition that includes two national team championships, 16 individual national champions and 137 All-Americans. Summers spent the past year building the program and recruiting its first class.
The Mountaineers will compete in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and open their competitive schedule Nov. 8 at the Maverick Open in Grand Junction. Western’s first RMAC dual is scheduled for Dec. 11 against Adams State in the Paul Wright Gym.
Cross-Country Teams Finish Fifth in the Nation
Western’s men’s and women’s cross-country teams ended the 2025 season in the same place: fifth in the nation.
Competing at the NCAA Division II Championships in Kenosha, Wisconsin, both Mountaineer teams earned top-five finishes against the country’s strongest programs. Allison Beasley led the women with a fifth-place individual finish, while Esteban Reyes earned All-America honors for the men by placing 40th.
The women finished with 206 points, capping a season in which Beasley, Peyton Weiss, Jayda Nix, and Lauren Willson earned All-RMAC recognition. The men’s finish followed a similarly deep season led by All-RMAC performers Branden Davis, Oliver Diaz, Jan Thewes and Tyler Nord.
Together, the two national finishes added another chapter to one of Western’s most enduring athletic traditions and demonstrated the depth of a program that remains among the best in Division II.
McDowell Puts Together a Historic Basketball Season
Aidan McDowell spent the 2025-26 season scoring at a rate no other NCAA Division II men’s basketball player could match.
The Western Colorado University sophomore led the division with 26.7 points per game, scoring at least 30 points nine times and surpassing 20 points in 25 of the Mountaineers’ 28 games. He also led the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference with 227 field goals, 41 more than the next-closest player.
McDowell’s season earned him first-team All-RMAC and first-team All-Region recognition before he was named a Division II Conference Commissioners Association second-team All-American. He became Western’s first second-team men’s basketball All-American since 1993 and the first player in program history to earn recognition higher than honorable mention. And because he produced that season as a sophomore, McDowell gave Mountaineer fans another reason to look forward to what comes next.
