Men's Cross Country Chosen As ECC Preseason Favorite; Women Picked Third
CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (Aug. 27, 2013) - After coming in the top spot in the 2012 East Coast Conference Championships, the LIU Post men's and Roberts Wesleyan women's cross country teams have been dubbed the preseason favorites, as voted upon by the league's coaches. Juniors Scott Litts from Dowling College and Gladys Kimutai from New York Institute of Technology were named the ECC Preseason Runners of the Year for their respective gender.
In the men's poll, the Pioneers captured eight of nine first-place votes, finishing with 79 total points, after clinching their fourth-straight conference title in 2012. Senior Thomas Speicher (Levittown, N.Y.) placed on the All-ECC first-team with his fifth place 26:37.80 time on the 8k course.
Roberts Wesleyan earned the No. 2 spot on the men's poll with the final first-place vote and 66 points. Molloy rounded out the Top-3 with 63 points.
On the women's side, Roberts Wesleyan led the way with seven first-place votes and 93 points, despite being ineligible to win the conference championship in their final year as provisional NCAA Division II members. St. Thomas Aquinas came in at second as the reigning ECC champion with 89 points and two first-place votes.
The Pioneer women grabbed the final first-place vote, totaling 86 points to secure the third spot in the poll. At last year's championship, freshman Elizabeth Stirling (Wantagh, N.Y.) paced the Pioneers, finishing the 5k course in a time of 19:24.20 to finish sixth overall. That mark tied her for the fifth-fastest time in a 5k by a Pioneer woman. Her sixth-place finish notched her as the lone LIU Post woman on the All-ECC first-team, and her time also tabbed her as Female Rookie of the Year.
Litts, the 2011 ECC Rookie of the Year, and a two-time All-ECC first-team member, was selected as the ECC Men's Preseason Runner of the Year. In last year's championship meet, Litts came in second place with a time of 26:12.90.
Kimutai earns her second-straight Women's Preseason Runner of the Year award. In 2012, Kimutai claimed her second selection to the All-ECC first-team, after finishing second in the ECC Championship meet. Kimutai finished the race in 18:34.90, a little over one second behind Prutsman.
Both Pioneer squads will kick off the 2013 campaign on Saturday, September 7 at the St. John's/Hofstra Invitational in Oakdale, N.Y.