Meet #1: Doug Watts Open | Saturday, Sept. 7 | Edinboro, Pa.
Start Times: Women's Race -- 11 AM | Men's Race -- 11:45 AM
Distances: 5K (women), 6K (men)
Live Timing
 

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SEASON OPENER
The Daemen University men's and women's cross country teams hit the course on Saturday for their 2024 season opener. The Wildcats will be racing at the Doug Watts Open in Edinboro, Pa. hosted by Edinboro University. The women's 5K race will kick off at 11 AM followed by the men's 6K race at 11:45 AM.

PRESEASON RANKINGS
The Wildcat men and women are both ranked in the top five in the region by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) preseason regional rankings, as released on Tuesday. The men come into the season ranked third in the East Region behind only Southern Connecticut State and Roberts Wesleyan who finished first and second at the 2023 NCAA Division II East Region Championships. This is the highest preseason ranking for the men in Daemen's Division II era (2015-present). The Daemen women come into the 2024 campaign ranked fourth in the region behind Roberts Wesleyan, Southern Connecticut State and St. Michael's. The Wildcat women have been ranked in the top five in the preseason in each of the past three seasons. 

ECC POLL
Both the Daemen men and women are predicted to finish second in the East Coast Conference, as voted on by the league's head coaches in the 2024 ECC Preseason Coaches' Polls. The Wildcat men and women both finished second at the 2023 ECC Championships, marking the third consecutive season with a second place finish at the conference meet for the women and a program-best finish for the men last season. The men's team placed all five of their top runners in the top-12 and posted a program-best team score of 38 at the ECC Championships, while the women posted a team score of 49 as the top five Daemen women each earned all-conference honors by placing in the top-14 runners at the meet in 2023.

GREAT EXPECTATIONS
The Wildcat men come into the year returning 12 runners from their highly successful 2023 team that posted a program-best fourth place finished at the NCAA Division II East Region Championships a year ago. Graduate student Jon Moote (Wilson, N.Y.) returns for his fifth season at Daemen after breaking the Wildcats' 8K record and pacing the team in five of the seven meets in 2023 while earning USTFCCCA All-Region and First Team All-ECC honors last season. Sophomore CJ Johnson (Baltimore, Md.) is back after a wildly successful rookie season in which he earned All-Region, First Team All-ECC and became the second consecutive Daemen runner to be named the ECC Rookie of the Year as the first freshman to cross the finish line at the ECC Championships. Junior Aidan Kincaid (Orchard Park, N.Y.) also returns after earning All-ECC honors the past two seasons and was the 2022 ECC Rookie of the Year. Freshman Ethan Keating (Wooster, Ohio) made a splash in his rookie season in 2023, finishing as one of Daemen's top five runners in three meets.

Daemen's women's team has seen continued success over the past few seasons and comes into 2024 returning 11 runners from last year. The Wildcat women placed fifth out of 15 teams at the East Region Championship in 2023 which marked their second straight top-five finish at regionals. Graduate student Camryn Bailey (Geneva, N.Y.) is back for her fifth season after bursting onto the scene late last year. Bailey comes into the season named the 2024 ECC Preseason Co-Runner of the Year after she was the sole Wildcat to earn First Team All-ECC honors last season and followed up with an All-Region performance at regionals. Junior Patsy Oberholzer (Greece, N.Y.) earned Second Team All-ECC and All-Region honors a year ago as well. Graduate student Courtney Merrill (Speedway, Ind.) and senior Emma Cain (Lockport, N.Y.) each posted all-conference performances in 2023 and are right there at the top with the impressive top-five for the Wildcats.

UP NEXT
The Wildcats will return to Western New York next weekend for the annual Daemen Alumni Invitational held at Williamsville's Bassett Park on Saturday, Sept. 14. 

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Daemen University features the premier NCAA Division II athletics program in the Buffalo-Niagara region, sponsoring 17 intercollegiate teams. For the latest information on Daemen Athletics, follow the Wildcats via social media on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, or sign up to receive customizable news alerts, e-mail newsletters and weekly schedule alerts.

Follow the Daemen cross country/track and field programs on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at @DaemenXCTF.