On Monday, the East Coast Conference released its annual preseason coaches poll for Men's and Women's Cross Country. The St. Thomas Aquinas College men's program has been selected to finish second, while the women's squad has been slotted to finish third, in a poll conducted among the conference's coaches. 

In 2021, the Spartans returned to action after a 22 month hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Head Coach Ray Kondracki and his teams finished in the exact same spots they are predicted to finish in 2022, at the ECC Cross Country Championships.

On the women's side; Ciara Durcan, Sofia Echeverria, Nicole Gysin, Lesley Marcin, Skylar Moreno, Gabriella Mott and Madison Roth return to Sparkill, looking to lead their squad to its third ECC Championship in program history (2010, 2012).

Three new faces join a mostly veteran core, as Ciara Doyle (Fr./Albertus Magnus H.S.), Samantha Frisbee (Jr./Washingtonville H.S./Orange County C.C.) and Adrian Schepis (Jr./Nanuet H.S.) make their STAC Cross Country debuts this fall.

Meanwhile, the men's squad features seven returners, including Thomas Bovenberg, Andrew Drescher, Kieran Keenan, Charlie Moore, James Polisena, Alex Quillan and Jack Terry-Kantor.

Freshmen Michael Calafiore (Monsignor Farrell H.S.), John Ciuffo (Monsignor Farrell H.S.), Kyle Koenig (Clarkstown South H.S.), sophomore Sebastian Cherry (Cristo Rey H.S. Brooklyn) and juniors James Hughes (Pearl River H.S./Ithaca College & Rockland C.C.) and Christan Watson (Woodlands H.S.) round out an experienced roster, ready to battle conference and regional foes in search of their first-ever ECC title in program history.

STAC opens its 2022 season at the SUNY Purchase College Invitational on September 10 in Purchase, N.Y.

2022 ECC Men's Cross Country Preseason Poll

2022 ECC Women's Cross Country Preseason Poll

() - 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