Women's Cross Country 8/29/2017 3:31:00 PM Mike Miranto, Associate A.D. For Communications

Women's Cross Country Opens Season In Regional Rankings

WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY PRESEASON EAST REGION RANKINGS
Rank	School	Conference	2016 Final Regional Ranking
1	Stonehill	NE-10	1st
2	Assumption	NE-10	2nd
3	Roberts Wesleyan	ECC	3rd
4	Merrimack	NE-10	6th
5	DAEMEN	ECC	4th
6	Le Moyne	NE-10	12th
7	St. Thomas Aquinas	ECC	10th
8	Bentley	NE-10	5th
9	Georgian Court	CACC	15th
10	Adelphi	NE-10	11th

AMHERST, N.Y. - The Daemen College women's cross country team is the No. 5 ranked team in the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) NCAA Division II East Region preseason rankings which were released from the USTFCCCA national office in New Orleans, La. today.

Daemen, which has placed fourth at East Region Championship meet in each of the last two seasons, is one of three teams from the East Coast Conference to be listed in the preseason rankings, joining No. 3 Roberts Wesleyan College and No. 7 St. Thomas Aquinas College.

Two Northeast-10 Conference teams - Stonehill College (first) and Assumption College (second) sit atop the poll. The top-seeded Skyhawks have claimed five of the last six regional titles.

Stonehill and Assumption were joined in the poll by their NE-10 brethren from Merrimack College (No. 4), Le Moyne College (No. 6), Bentley University (No. 8) and Adelphi University (No. 10). Georgian Court University is the lone representative of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference, coming in at No. 9.

Senior Amy Trabert (Amherst, N.Y./Amherst) returns to lead the Wildcats this season. Trabert boasts seven top-10 finishes in 19 career races thus far, and has earned All-ECC honors in each of the last two seasons. She is Daemen's top returner from last season's regional championship meet where she finished 30th out of 191 competitors.

Also back is red-shirt junior Rebekah Zee (East Aurora, N.Y./Slippery Rock University) who made an immediate impact in her first season with the Wildcats. Zee competed in all seven of the team's races in 2016, and was among the team's top-five finishers in each race. She posted a fifth-place finish at the Le Moyne Alumni Short Course Invitational to open the 2016 season, and later finished 15th at the ECC Championship meet.

Additional returning veterans include red-shirt senior Katherine Robinson (Pasadena, Calif./Pasadena), red-shirt junior Emily Bradley (Lockport, N.Y../Starpoint) and sophomore Shania LiVecchi (West Seneca, N.Y./West Seneca West) who have combined to make 33 race appearances in their careers.

Daemen, which was picked third in the ECC preseason poll, opens the 2017 season this Friday, September 1 at the Daniel Walker Invitational. The meet is hosted by Buffalo State College and takes place at Beaver Island State Park on Grand Island. The Wildcats will be making their first appearance at the event since the 2011 season.

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

Emily Bradley: 5' 3"; Redshirt Junior

Shania LiVecchi: 5' 3"; Sophomore

Katherine Robinson: 5' 3"; Redshirt Senior

Amy Trabert: 5' 3"; Senior

Rebekah Zee: 5' 5"; Redshirt Junior

Players Mentioned

Emily Bradley
: 5' 3"; Redshirt Junior

Shania LiVecchi
: 5' 3"; Sophomore

Katherine Robinson
: 5' 3"; Redshirt Senior

Amy Trabert
: 5' 3"; Senior

Rebekah Zee
: 5' 5"; Redshirt Junior