Senior Hannah Rice and the Daemen women's cross country team figure to be in the hunt for a bid to the NCAA Division II National Championship next week

Women's Cross Country 10/25/2016 3:49:00 PM Mike Miranto, Associate A.D. For Communications

Wildcats Remain Ranked Fourth In East Region

WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY NCAA DIVISION II EAST REGION RANKINGS - WEEK #6
Rank	School	Conference	Last Week
1	Stonehill	Northeast-10	1st
2	Roberts Wesleyan	East Coast	2nd
3	Assumption	Northeast-10	3rd
4	DAEMEN	EAST COAST	4th
5	Bentley	Northeast-10	5th
6	Merrimack	Northeast-10	6th
7	Philadelphia	Central Atlantic Collegiate	7th
8	Southern Connecticut State	Northeast-10	NR
9	American International	Northeast-10	NR
10	St. Thomas Aquinas	East Coast	NR

AMHERST, N.Y. - The Daemen College women's cross country team remained in the top-five of the NCAA Division II East Region according to the latest U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) regional poll which was released this afternoon from the USTFCCCA national office in New Orleans, La. Daemen comes in at No. 4 this week, holding steady at that position for the fifth straight week (week No. 2 poll, week No. 3 poll, week No. 4 poll, week No. 5 poll) after opening the season at No. 3 (preseason poll, week No. 1 poll). Today's poll is the first released since October 11, and it is the final regional ranking to be issued this season.

Daemen is the second East Coast Conference squad in the rankings, behind rival Roberts Wesleyan College which came in at No. 2 again this week. Northeast-10 Conference affiliate Assumption College remained ahead of Daemen at No. 3, while Stonehill College, which has won four of the last five East Region championships, occupies the No. 1 ranking for the seventh straight week.

Bentley University (No. 5), Merrimack College (No. 6) and Philadelphia University (No. 7) all held their positions, while the bottom of the poll featured three teams that were not ranked in the previous version. Southern Connecticut State University (No. 8), American International College (No. 9) and St. Thomas Aquinas College (No. 10) rounded out the rankings.

The East Region of NCAA Division II is comprised of teams from the East Coast Conference, Northeast-10 Conference and Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference. The NCAA Division II East Region Championships will take place on Saturday, November 5 in Hopkinton, N.H. with the top three finishing teams qualifying for the NCAA Division II National Championships on Saturday, November 19 in St. Leo, Fla. Also, the top three finishing individuals from non-qualifying teams will earn a trip to the national meet.

Roberts Wesleyan placed all five of its scorers in the top-nine finishers, accumulating 31 points to edge Daemen (48 points) at last weekend's East Coast Conference Championships. It was the third straight conference title for the Redhawks which boasted three first-team All-ECC performers.

Daemen's harriers were left as the bridesmaids once again, finishing as the league's runner-up for the third time in the last four years. The Wildcats put all five of its scorers in the top-15 finishers.

Senior Mackenzie Donahue (East Aurora, N.Y./East Aurora) and junior Amy Trabert (Amherst, N.Y./Amherst) each posted top-10 finishes to pace the Wildcats.

Donahue finished second with a time of 18:09.8. It marked her second straight runner-up finish at the conference championship meet, her third straight top-five finish this season, and the 18th top-10 finish of her career (in 24 career races). Donahue's peformance also made her a first-team All-ECC honoree for the third time in her career.

Trabert completed the 5K course in 18:49.7 to finish seventh to earn first-team All-ECC honors for the first time. Four of her seven career top-10 finishes have come this season.

Seniors Hannah Rice (East Aurora, N.Y./East Aurora) and Ashley Cheff (Niagara Falls, N.Y./Niagara Falls), and redshirt-sophomore Rebekah Zee (East Aurora, N.Y./Slippery Rock University) rounded out the Wildcats' scorers. Rice placed 10th and collected second-team all-conference honors with a time of 19:14.7. The performance marked Rice's 15th top-20 finish in her career (in 21 career races). Cheff also earned second-team all-conference honors after placing 14th with a career-best time of 19:35.8. Zee missed out on all-conference honors by just three seconds and placed 15th with a time of 19:38.7.

Also around the region last weekend, Stonehill captured its eighth straight NE-10 Conference championship last Saturday, October 22. The Skyhawks totaled 40 points after its five scorers placed in the top-12, including race winner Nicole Borofski who won it for the second straight year. She posted a time of 21:26.2 in the 6K race. Stonehill's point total put them comfortably ahead of Assumption (82 points). Antonia Pagliuca paced the Greyhounds with a fifth-place finish.

Philadelphia claimed the CACC title last Sunday, October 23. It was the third straight conference championship, and the eighth in the last nine years, for the Rams who placed all five of its scorers in the race's top-seven.

Daemen has redemption on its mind heading into next week's East Region Championships. The Wildcats narrowly missed qualifying for the national meet as a team last season, finishing fourth (out of 28 teams) at the regional meet on November 8, 2015. With178 points in the race, Daemen finished 18 back of third-place St. Thomas Aquinas which earned the final team bid along with regional champ Stonehill and regional runner-up Roberts Wesleyan. Donahue did qualify as an individual after finishing third with a school-record 6K time of 21:42.46. She went on to finish in 69th place at the 2015 NCAA Division II National Championships.

For breaking news and continuing coverage of the Daemen women's cross country team, follow @DaemenAthletics and @DaemenXC on Twitter.

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Players Mentioned

Mackenzie Donahue: 5' 2"; Senior

Hannah Rice: 5' 5"; Senior

Amy Trabert: 5' 3"; Junior

Ashley Cheff: 5' 1"; Senior

Rebekah Zee: 5' 5"; Redshirt Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Mackenzie Donahue
: 5' 2"; Senior

Hannah Rice
: 5' 5"; Senior

Amy Trabert
: 5' 3"; Junior

Ashley Cheff
: 5' 1"; Senior

Rebekah Zee
: 5' 5"; Redshirt Sophomore