KINGS PARK, N.Y. -- The Daemen University men's cross country team placed second out of seven teams at Saturday's East Coast Conference Championships on Long Island. Junior CJ Johnson (Baltimore, Md.) became the first male Daemen athlete to top the individual standings and be named ECC Most Outstanding Runner.
 
Full Results
 
The Wildcats posted a team score of 38 in the race, trailing team champion Roberts Wesleyan who secured a mark of 24. Molloy (88), St. Thomas Aquinas (106), D'Youville (134), Queens (140) and Staten Island (179) followed.
 
Johnson claimed victory with an 8K time of 26:24.80, nearly 15 seconds ahead of his closest rival, Roberts Wesleyan's Trevor Heitkamp. The junior missed last season's ECC Championships due to an injury, but finished sixth as a freshman in 2023, earning a First Team All-ECC bid. Two other Wildcats joined Johnson in earning First Team All-ECC honors on Saturday. Junior Ethan Keating (Wooster, Ohio) finished fourth overall and second among Daemen runners with a time of 27:03.30, just three seconds shy of third place and nearly 25 seconds clear of his ECC Championship time from last year when he finished 16th.
 
Freshman Simon Evans also earned First Team All-ECC recognition by finishing seventh with a time of 27.34:40, the second-quickest among freshmen in the competition. 
 
Daemen placed two more runners within the top 15 overall finishers, both of whom earned Second Team All-ECC accolades. Senior Josh Trometer's (Lancaster, N.Y.) time of 26:02.60 was good enough for 12th place, seven spots better than he managed last season. Freshman Ibrahim Hakizimana (Rochester, N.Y.) came home 14th, posting an 8K time of 28:13.00, rounding out Daemen's scorers, all of whom finished in the top 15.
 
Junior Brad Tobin (Hamburg, N.Y) finished with a 30.20:00 in 25th place and freshman Andre Kannisto (Boston, N.Y.) placed 34th at 30:40.10.
 
The Wildcats were second in the team standings at the ECC Championships for the fourth consecutive season and have finished fourth or better in 10 of 13 appearances in the event. They have had at least one runner within the top 10 of the individual standings in nine of their last 12 conference championship meets.
 
Daemen turns its attention to the NCAA DII East Regional Championships on November 8 in New Hampshire, an event the Wildcats placed 11th in out of 18 competitors last season. 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 University cross country/track and field program on Twitter and Instagram at @DaemenXCTF