Iona College Selected as Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Preseason Favorites
EDISON, NJ – The defending champion Iona College Gaels were selected as the men’s and women’s cross country preseason favorites, according to a vote by the leagues’ 11 head coaches.
The Iona men’s team received a total of 121 points and 11 first-place votes. The Gaels have won 27 consecutive MAAC men’s cross country championships, the longest active conference title streak in NCAA Division I.
Manhattan College (104 points) was tabbed second behind Iona, while Siena College (93) rounds out the top three. Marist College (82) was voted in fourth place and in fifth place was Monmouth University with (79).
Canisius College received (73), placing them in sixth, followed by Rider University in seventh and Quinnipiac in eighth, with (54) and (47), respectively. Fairfield University received 36 points, Niagara University (26) and Saint Peter’s University (11) rounds out the preseason poll.
At last year’s championship, Iona’s Andrew Tarino won the program’s 16th-straight individual champion.
The Iona women’s team received a total (117 points) and eight first-place votes. The Gaels have won 12 of the last 13 MAAC championships. Iona’s narrow, two-point victory over Quinnipiac in 2016, was the closest MAAC championship race since 2002.
On the women’s side, Marist claimed second with (106), Quinnipiac (95) placed third. Manhattan received 86 points putting them in fourth place while Canisius comes in fifth place with 75 points.
Monmouth (71) was picked sixth place. Siena received 56 points to come in seventh place. Rider came in eighth place with 41 points. Fairfield (38) placed ninth, while Niagara was 10th with 29 points. Saint Peters received 12 points to round out the poll.
The 2019 MAAC Cross Country Championships take place on Saturday, October 27 and is hosted by Siena College at The Crossings of Colonie Park in Loudonville, New York.
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Men’s Cross Country Preseason Coaches’ Poll
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1.
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Iona (11)
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121
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2.
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Manhattan
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104
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3.
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Siena
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93
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4.
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Marist
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82
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5.
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Monmouth
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79
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6.
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Canisius
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73
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7.
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Rider
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54
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8.
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Quinnipiac
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47
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9.
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Fairfield
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36
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10.
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Niagara
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26
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11.
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Saint Peter’s
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11
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Women’s Cross Country Preseason Coaches’ Poll
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1.
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Iona (8)
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117
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2.
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Marist (2)
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106
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3.
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Quinnipiac
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95
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4.
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Manhattan
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86
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5.
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Canisius (1)
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75
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6.
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Monmouth
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71
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7.
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Siena
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56
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8.
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Rider
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41
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9.
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Fairfield
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38
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10.
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Niagara
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29
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11.
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Saint Peter’s
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12
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About the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference:
With 11 institutions strongly bound by the sound principles of quality and integrity in academics and excellence in athletics, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) is in its 38th year of competition during the 2018-19 academic year. Current Conference members include: Canisius College, Fairfield University, Iona College, Manhattan College, Marist College, Monmouth University, Niagara University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University, Saint Peter's University, and Siena College.