ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Daemen University women's cross country team finished third out of eight teams at the 2026 East Coast Conference Championships in Rochester, N.Y. on Saturday morning. Junior Lia Brasacchio (Victor, N.Y.) earned Second Team All-ECC honors for her 11^th place finish in the race.

Daemen totaled 90 points as a team to place third overall. Host Roberts Wesleyan placed all five of their top runners in the top eight today for a team score of 22 to win their 12^th straight title. D'Youville placed second with a team score of 76, followed by Daemen with 90 points. St. Thomas Aquinas (126), Molloy (130), Queens (137), Staten Island (146) and District of Columbia (230) rounded out the rest of the meet.
  Finishing as Daemen's top runner in the fourth meet this season, Brasacchio paced the Cats crossing the finish line 11^th out of 67 runners to earn Second Team All-ECC honors for the first time in her college career.

Freshman Julie Cruz (Williamsville, N.Y.) finished second on the team for the second straight meet to place 19^th overall, running a PR time of 19:36.8. Cruz shaved 20 seconds off her previous PR (19:56.3) set at the Canisius Alumni Classic two weeks ago.

Junior Kylie Piekarski (Lancaster, N.Y.) placed 21^st overall with a PR time of 19:39.6, shaving one second off her previous best time (19:37.5) set on the same course at the 2026 Harry F. Anderson Invitational on Sept. 26.

Sophomore Raegan Giardini (West Clarksville, N.Y.) posted a time of 20:04.3 to place 26^th, setting a personal best finishing place after placing 40^th in the race last season.

Graduate student Alexis Nguyen (Grand Island, N.Y.) crossed the finish line 32^nd overall with a time of 20:55.8 in her first ECC Championship.

The Wildcats are off for two weeks but return to action on Saturday, Nov. 21 at the NCAA Div. II East Region Championships in Farmingdale, N.Y. at the Bethpage Polo at the Park Course