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2016 Northeast Conference Women's Cross Country Preseason Coaches Poll             1. Sacred Heart (9)             2. Central Connecticut             3. Bryant             4. Saint Francis U (1)             5. Wagner             6. Robert Morris             7. Fairleigh Dickinson             8. (tie) LIU Brooklyn                 Mount St. Mary's             10. St. Francis Brooklyn             First place votes in parentheses

 
   
Somerset, NJ -- Three-time defending Northeast Conference (NEC) champion Sacred Heart was unanimously selected to capture the 2016 NEC women’s cross country title in a vote of the league’s head coaches. The Pioneers capped off their NEC three-peat last season, posting a winning team score of 34 points with six runners among the top-12 finishers at the event.

Last year’s runner-up Central Connecticut was picked to finish second with Bryant next in the third spot. Saint Francis U was chosen fourth, followed by Wagner in fifth and Robert Morris in sixth. Fairleigh Dickinson, LIU Brooklyn, Mount St. Mary’s and St. Francis Brooklyn in that order rounded out the 10-team poll.

Last year’s title win marked Sacred Heart’s fourth NEC crown. Longtime Pioneer head coach Christian Morrison was named the NEC Coach of the Year for the third consecutive year and fifth time in his career as the Pioneers placed six runners on the All-NEC Team. Three of those student-athletes are returning, including senior Jennifer Hahne (Madison, CT/Daniel Hand), who posted a time of 18:04.8 and finished second overall among individual finishers. Senior Meghan Hutch (East Taunton, MA/Coyle & Cassidy) and junior Kate Svensen (Medway, MA/Bishop Feehan) are also back for the Pioneers. Barker finished tenth last year, followed by Svensen in 12th place. Also back for the Pioneers is Tara Connelly (Holmdel, NJ/Saint John Vianney). Connelly sat out last season after taking 12th at the NEC meet as a freshman back in 2014.

CCSU junior Brittany Mendelson (Southbury, CT/Pomperaug) was last season’s NEC individual champion after dominating the field with a time of 17:38.4, more than 26 seconds ahead of her closest competitor. Mendelson was named the NEC’s Outstanding Performer. CCSU last won the NEC title in 1999, when the Blue Devils capped off back-to-back championships.

Three other top performers are back in the fold this season. Wagner senior Nicole Bell (Branchville, NJ/Sussex County Technical), St. Francis Brooklyn junior Annais Cummiskey (Tenafly, NJ/Tenafly) and Bryant junior Elizabeth Wilmonton (Rowley, MA/Triton) finished fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively at the 2015 NEC Championship with Cummiskey earning NEC Freshman of the Year accolades in her first year competing collegiately. Along with the aforementioned trio, Saint Francis U junior Morgan Kiebler (Export, PA/Kiski Area) and sophomore Angela Barber (Camp Hill, PA/East Pennsboro) were also named NEC All-Conference performers a year ago.

The 2016 NEC Women’s Cross Country Championship will be hosted by Saint Francis U in Loretto, PA on October 29.

About The Northeast Conference
Now entering its 36th year, the Northeast Conference is an NCAA Division I collegiate athletic association consisting of 10 institutions of higher learning located throughout six states. Media coverage of the NEC extends to four of the largest markets in the United States - New York (#1), Pittsburgh (#23), Baltimore (#27), and Hartford/New Haven (#30).  Founded in 1981 as the basketball-only ECAC Metro Conference, the NEC has grown to sponsor 22 championship sports for men and women and now enjoys automatic access to 14 different NCAA Championships. NEC member institutions include Bryant, Central Connecticut, Fairleigh Dickinson, LIU Brooklyn, Mount St. Mary’s, Robert Morris, Sacred Heart, St. Francis Brooklyn, Saint Francis U and Wagner. For more information on the NEC, visit the league’s official website (www.northeastconference.org) and digital network (www.necfrontrow.com), or follow the league on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Google+, all @NECsports.