Indoor Track & Field

West Babylon, N.Y. – The Georgian Court men's and women's track & field teams were heavy favorites in the East Coast Conference preseason polls released on Tuesday morning. In addition, St. Thomas Aquinas’ DeAndre Smith (Brentwood, N.Y.) and Georgian Court's Aniyah Russell (Jackson, N.J.) were named the ECC Preseason Athletes of the Year.

Georgian Court was a unanimous selection atop the women’s poll and received six of nine first place votes in the men’s poll to run away with the top spot in both. The Lions are defending ECC Champions, having won the conference’s last Indoor Championship in 2020 (no championships were held in 2021 due to COVID-19).

Roberts Wesleyan and St. Thomas Aquinas tied for second in the men’s poll. Both received first place votes, with Roberts Wesleyan earning two, while St. Thomas Aquinas received one. Roberts Wesleyan was also the runner-up in the women’s poll, while University of the District of Columbia narrowly outpaced St. Thomas Aquinas to round out the top three.

Smith, a two-time ECC high jump champion (2020 - indoor; 2021 - outdoor), takes the Men’s Preseason Athlete of the Year award. In his last indoor season, Smith earned a spot in the NCAA Division II Championship in the high jump with a leap of 2.13m. That mark was good for ninth in the country. He also set the ECC Indoor Championship record that season with a leap of 2.11m.

Russell earns the nod as the Women’s Preseason Athlete of the Year. Like Smith, she is a two-time ECC Champion in the long jump, winning at the Indoor Championship in 2019 and 2020. She also set a meet record with a leap of 5.78m at the 2020 ECC Indoor Championship. Russell excelled in last year’s outdoor season as the sport returned from COVID, winning the long jump in all five meets she was entered in.

2021-22 ECC Men’s Indoor Track & Field Preseason Poll

2021-22 ECC Women’s Indoor Track & Field Preseason Poll

() - first place votes