PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Entering their first full season under Head Coach Nicholas Noheimer, Eastern Connecticut State University Men's Cross Country was selected to finish third with one first-place vote, while Women's Cross Country was picked to finish fifth in the Little East Conference Preseason Polls released on Wednesday afternoon by the league office.

On the men's side, Keene State College led the pack with 63 points and seven first-place votes, followed by UMass Dartmouth in second with 48 points and a first-place vote, while just behind the Warriors in fourth was Plymouth State University at 45 points and the University of Southern Maine in fifth with 44 points. A year ago, Eastern finished fourth in the LEC Championship with 84 points, while Keene State took the title over Plymouth State with 52 points compared to the 58 points for the Panthers. 

Of the five scores that counted for the Warriors in the LEC Championship last year, four of those runners are back in senior Zachary D'Andrea and juniors Sam Ambrocio, Noah Hauswirth, and Joey Caruk. Jake Thompson, who placed 22nd, just ahead of Hauswirth in the meet, graduated after last season, while sophomore Kyle Kornacki, who finished just behind fellow sophomore Luke Dalton in last year's championship race, is also back for their second season.

Outside of Thompson, essentially the entire team is back for the 2026 season while adding seven first-year runners in George Bourassa, Andrew Butryman, Noah Chaloult, Owen Cipriano, Brayden Dunn, Gerry Hall, and Luke Nichols. Eastern's season kicks off on September 5th with the Castleton Invitational at 10:00 AM in Castleton, Vermont.
For the women's poll, Plymouth State came out on top with seven first-place votes, totaling 63 points, ahead of Keene State in second with the other two first-place votes and 58 points. UMass Dartmouth rounded out the top three with 45 points, followed by the University of Southern Maine in fourth place at 42 points, before Eastern's fifth-place finish with 35 points, slightly ahead of UMass Boston in sixth with 34 points. 

In last year's championship, the Warriors placed fifth as a team, but this season's team will have almost an entirely new look, with the only top-five finisher returning being senior Isabel Cintron, who finished eighth last year, earning LEC Second Team All-Conference, along with Emely Melendez. Other returners for Eastern will include junior Keira Warner and sophomore Natalie Estabrook, who both placed sixth and seventh in the running order for the Warriors at that LEC Championship Meet, giving them some championship pedigree heading into the year. 

Outside of those three returners, six first-year runners will make up the rest of Noheimer's squad in Kylie Burchall, Noelia Diaz, Sadie Iselin, Natalie Leppert, Ava Sullivan, and Hailey Yahara.