AMHERST, N.Y. - The Daemen College men's and women's indoor track and field teams were each picked seventh in their respective East Coast Conference preseason polls which were released today from conference headquarters in Central Islip, N.Y. after conducting a vote of the league's head coaches.

On the women's side, Daemen garnered 19 points in the poll, 10 behind sixth-place Molloy College and four in front of eighth-place Long Island University Post.  

Roberts Wesleyan College picked up seven of the eight first-place votes to rest comforably atop the poll with 62 points.  University of the District of Columbia (42 points) edged ECC associate member Georgian Court University (41 points) for runner-up status.  Saint Thomas Aquinas College (40 points) and Queens College (36 points) rounded out the top five vote-getters with fifth-place Queens picking up the lone remaining first-place vote.

The Daemen women finished seventh in last season's ECC Indoor Track & Field Championships held on February 21, 2015 at Saint Anthony's High School in Huntington, N.Y.  The Wildcats return a trio of all-conference performers from last winter - Mackenzie Donahue (East Aurora, N.Y./East Aurora), Hannah Rice (East Aurora, N.Y./East Aurora) and Amy Trabert (Amherst, N.Y./Amherst, N.Y.).  Donahue finished as the ECC runner-up in the 3,000-meter run with a season-best time of 10:45.78, while Rice joined her in finishing as the league's runner-up in the 800-meter run (2:23.44).  Trabert set a new team record with her time of 19:00.52 in the 5,000-meter run which was good for fourth place at last season's conference title meet.

On the men's side, Daemen picked up 12 points in the poll, four back of sixth-place LIU Post and 12 behind fifth-place Molloy.

RWC made it a preseason poll sweep as they were awarded 46 points to sit atop the men's poll today, gaining five of the seven first-place votes.  Saint Thomas Aquinas (36 points) picked up the remaining first-place votes to finish in second, while Georgian court and Queens tied for third with 31 points apiece.

The Wildcat men finished in fifth place at last season's conference championship meet, and they return a quartet of all-conference performers headlined by three-time ECC indoor track and field pole vault champion Robert Ralyea (Lockport, N.Y./Lockport).  Also back is second-team All-ECC performers Nigel Cordulla (Cheektowaga, N.Y./John F. Kennedy), Alex Reid (Lockport, N.Y./Lockport) and Jeremy Rushok (Akron, N.Y./Buffalo State College).  Cordulla (800-meter run) and Rushok (3,000-meter run) picked up their all-conference accolades on the track, while Reid did so in the long jump last season.

Both Daemen teams officially open their season this Saturday, January 23 at the SPIRE North Coast Indoor Track and Field Open in Geneva, Ohio.