AMHERST, N.Y. -- The Daemen University women's cross country was selected to finish third in the 2025 East Coast Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll, released on Tuesday afternoon following a vote of the league's eight head coaches.

After placing second at the 2024 ECC Championships for the fourth consecutive season, the Wildcats are ranked third in the preseason, being narrowly edged out by Molloy University. Perennial powerhouse Roberts Wesleyan University, winners of the last 10 ECC titles, sit atop the poll with 63 points, garnering seven of the eight first-place votes. The Lions of Molloy find themselves ranked second in the preseason with 49 votes and one first-place vote while the Wildcats sit in third with 48 points. D'Youville University rounds out the top four with 45 points. St. Thomas Aquinas College (28 points), Queens College (23), College of Staten Island (18) and University of the District of Columbia (14) are the final four teams in the 2025 preseason poll. 

The Wildcats are coming off their second trip to the NCAA Division II National Championships in three years after finishing third as a team at the 2024 NCAA Division II East Region Championship a season ago. Seven runners return for the Wildcats this season, including four of Daemen's top-seven runners from 2024. Second Team All-ECC runners Patsy Oberholzer (Greece, N.Y.) and Christa Oates (Tonawanda, N.Y.) are back this season after both finished between third and fourth on the team for the majority of last season. Sophomore Lia Brasacchio (Victor, N.Y.) put together a strong freshman campaign and looks to factor into the top five scorers in 2025. Gratien added two freshman to the 2025 roster to round out the team at nine runners. 

Daemen will run in six races over the fall 2025 season. The Wildcats will open up the 2025 schedule on Saturday, September 6 in Edinboro, Pennsylvania at the Doug Watts Open hosted by Edinboro University. Daemen will be off for two weeks before participating in the highly competitive Harry F. Anderson Invitational in Rochester, N.Y. hosted by Roberts Wesleyan University on Saturday, Sept. 27. The Wildcats will run in three races in the month of October, first traveling down to run in the Highlander Invitational hosted by Houghton University on Oct. 11 and will wrap up the regular season on Saturday, Oct. 18 close to home at the Canisius Alumni Classic at Buffalo's Delaware Park. The 2025 East Coast Conference Championships will be hosted by Queens College on Saturday, Oct. 25 at Sunken Meadow State Park. The 2025 NCAA Division II East Region Championships will be held on Saturday, Nov. 8 at the Hopkinton Fairgrounds in Hopkinton, New Hampshire. 
 

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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.