West Babylon, N.Y. – The ECC Men's and Women's Cross Country preseason polls were released on Monday morning with Roberts Wesleyan as a unanimous selection atop the men's poll and Daemen taking the top spot in the women's poll. In addition, Roberts Wesleyan's Blake Kasper (Orchard Park, N.Y.) and Daemen's Kassandra Nolet (Fort Erie, Ontario), were honored as the winners of the ECC Preseason Runner of the Year award.
On the men's side, the conference's coaches all agreed that the Redhawks would extend their streak of consecutive ECC Championships to eight as Roberts earned all seven first place votes and 49 points. St. Thomas Aquinas was the runner-up with 39 points, while Daemen rounded out the top three with 34 points. Molloy was right behind the Wildcats in fourth place with 32 points.
In the women's poll, Daemen becomes the first team other than Roberts Wesleyan to top the poll since the 2011 season. The Wildcats earned five of eight first place votes to narrowly outpace the Redhawks by three points, 52-49. Daemen returns four All-Conference honorees and two more runners who finished in the top-25 from last year's squad that finished as ECC runner-up.
Roberts Wesleyan, who earned the final three first place votes, was the runner-up in the poll. Similar to their male counterparts, the Redhawks have won seven straight ECC titles. St. Thomas Aquinas was third in the poll with 38 points, while Molloy was right on their tails with 36.
Kasper and Nolet were the coaches' picks as the Preseason Runner of the Year. Kasper earned a spot on the ECC All-Conference First Team with a seventh place finish in last year's conference championship. He also ran to a fifth place finish in the Fredonia State XC Invitational.
Nolet, a two-time All-Conference honoree, finished in the top five at five of the Wildcats' seven meets. She won the Daemen Duels 5K, was the runner-up at the Frank Dillon Memorial and took third place finishes at the Canisius Alumni Classic and the ECC Championship.
2022 ECC Men's Cross Country Preseason Poll
| School | Pts. |
| 1. Roberts Wesleyan (7) | 49 |
| 2. St. Thomas Aquinas | 39 |
| 3. Daemen | 34 |
| 4. Molloy | 32 |
| 5. Queens | 18 |
| 6. D'Youville | 13 |
| 7. Staten Island | 11 |
2022 ECC Women's Cross Country Preseason Poll
| School | Pts. |
| 1. Daemen (5) | 52 |
| 2. Roberts Wesleyan (3) | 49 |
| 3. St. Thomas Aquinas | 38 |
| 4. Molloy | 36 |
| 5. D'Youville | 14 |
| T6. Queens | 13 |
| T6. Staten Island | 13 |
| 8. Dist. Columbia | 9 |
() - first place votes
Men's Cross Country Preseason Runner of the Year: Blake Kasper, Jr., Roberts Wesleyan
Women's Cross Country Preseason Runner of the Year: Kassandra Nolet, Gr., Daemen
