Katherine Robinson (left) and Morgan Urbanek (right) have helped Daemen to their fifth straight regional ranking this week

Women's Cross Country 10/6/2016 9:48:00 AM Mike Miranto, Associate A.D. For Communications

Women's Cross Country Is Regionally-Ranked For Fifth Straight Week

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

AMHERST, N.Y. - For the fifth straight week, the Daemen College women's cross country team has been ranked 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 earlier this week from the USTFCCCA national office in New Orleans, La. Daemen comes in at No. 4 this week, holding steady at that position for the third straight week (week No. 2 poll, week No. 3 poll) after opening the season at No. 3 (preseason poll, week No. 1 poll).

The top six teams in the poll all remained the same, including Stonehill College and Assumption College at Nos. 1 and 2, respectively. The two Northeast-10 Conference affiliates have occupied the top two poll positions in each of the five polls this season, while Daemen's East Coast Conference rival Roberts Wesleyan College comes in at No. 3 for the third straight week.

Philadelphia University of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference saw the greatest gain in the poll this week, coming from outside the poll up to No. 7. The Rams had last been ranked in the week No. 1 poll at No. 8.

NE-10 affiliates Le Moyne College (No. 8), College of St. Rose (No. 9) and Southern Connecticut State (No. 10) round out this week's poll. The latter opened the year at No. 8 in the preseason poll, but this is their first ascent back into the region's top-10 since.

Daemen has been idle since putting up a third-place showing (out of 21 competing teams) at the Harry F. Anderson Invitational hosted by Roberts Wesleyan on September 24. The meet marked the first time this season that the Wildcats had the opportunity to go head-to-head with their ECC rivals from RWC and St. Thomas Aquinas College (STAC dropped out of the poll this week for the first time this season). The host Redhawks edged Daemen by 12 points for second place in the team standings, while STAC finished ninth.

Senior Mackenzie Donahue (East Aurora, N.Y./East Aurora) and junior Amy Trabert (Amherst, N.Y./Amherst) paced the Wildcats at the meet. Donahue shaved 25 seconds off her 5K time from last season's Harry F. Anderson Invitational, finishing in third place (out of 223 competitors) with a time of 18:28.5. Trabert, who beat Donahue in competition for the first time in her career at the Rochester Yellowjacket Invitational a week earlier, finished just behind her teammate in this one, coming in fourth place with a time of 18:32.4.

Senior Hannah Rice (East Aurora, N.Y./East Aurora) and redshirt-sophomore Rebekah Zee (East Aurora, N.Y./Slippery Rock University) also posted top-20 finishes for Daemen. Rice came in 12th place with a time of 19:14.7 for the 13th top-20 finish of her career, while Zee finished 20th with a time of 19:29.5.

The East Region of NCAA Division II is comprised of teams from the ECC, NE-10 and CACC. 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.

Coach Paul Lagno's Wildcat squad returns to action this Saturday, October 8 when they'll partake in the Lake Erie Storm Invitational.

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

Rebekah Zee: 5' 5"; Redshirt Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Mackenzie Donahue
: 5' 2"; Senior

Hannah Rice
: 5' 5"; Senior

Amy Trabert
: 5' 3"; Junior

Rebekah Zee
: 5' 5"; Redshirt Sophomore