Daemen University Athletics

Western New York's Premier Division II Team

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Men's Cross Country 8/22/2017 12:40:00 PM Mike Miranto, Associate A.D. For Communications

Men's Cross Country Picked Third In ECC Preseason Poll

2017 ECC MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY PRESEASON POLL
Rank	School	Pts.	2016 ECC Championship Finish
1	Roberts Wesleyan (8)	64	1st of 8
2	St. Thomas Aquinas	50	2nd of 8
3	DAEMEN	43	3RD OF 8
4	Molloy	42	4th of 8
5	LIU Post	33	6th of 8
6	NYIT	26	5th of 8
7	Bridgeport	17	7th of 8
8	Queens	13	8th of 8
( ) - first place votes

AMHERST, N.Y. - The Daemen College men's cross country team has been picked to finish third in the East Coast Conference this year, according to the ECC preseason poll which was released today from conference headquarters in West Babylon, N.Y. following a vote of the league's eight head coaches.

Daemen, which finished third at last season's ECC Championship meet, picked up 43 points in the poll voting to edge out Molloy College (42 points). Under the direction of third-year head coach Paul Lagno, the Wildcats return three runners who finished in the top 40 at last year's conference championship meet, headlined by senior Kevin Roginson (Amherst, N.Y./Williamsville North). Roginson posted the best individual performance in team history at the ECC meet last season, finishing fifth and earning first-team All-ECC honors in the process. Sophomore Josh Bodnar (Fillmore, N.Y./Fillmore) and junior Timothy Poole (Fayetteville, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius) also return after finishing 25th and 37th, respectively, last season.

"I'm really excited to see what our men's team can do this year," said Lagno. "Our depth is going to be challenged, and we should see some real standouts up front. If we can get our fourth and fifth guys to close the gap on our top three, we'll have an opportunity to really scare some people at the conference level."

Roberts Wesleyan College, which has won the last three ECC crowns, topped the voting with 64 points after picking up all eight first-place votes. The Redhawks, who are returning three All-ECC honorees, sit comfortably ahead of second-place St. Thomas Aquinas College (50 points) in the poll.

Following the logjam at No. 3 (Daemen) and No. 4 (Molloy), Long Island University Post (33 points), N.Y. Institute of Technology (26 points), University of Bridgeport (17 points) and Queens College (13 points) rounded out the poll.

In addition to releasing the preseason poll, the conference office also announced that RWC's Josiah Ottolini has been tabbed the ECC Preseason Runner of the Year. Ottolini was a first-team All-ECC performer last season after finishing fourth at the conference championship meet with a time of 26:19.5, edging out Daemen's Roginson by two seconds.

Daemen opens its 2017 season on Friday, September 1 at the Daniel Walker Invitational hsoted by Buffalo State College at Beaver Island State Park in Grand Island, N.Y. It will mark the Wildcats' first appearance at the event since 2011. The ECC Championship is slated for Saturday, October 21 on the campus of NYIT in Old Westbury, N.Y.

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

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Players Mentioned

Josh Bodnar: 5' 8"; Sophomore

Timothy Poole: 5' 11"; Junior

Kevin Roginson: 5' 10"; Senior

Players Mentioned

Josh Bodnar
: 5' 8"; Sophomore

Timothy Poole
: 5' 11"; Junior

Kevin Roginson
: 5' 10"; Senior