LOUDONVILLE, NY – With the 2026 Cross Country season set to begin next week, the Metro Conference released the Cross Country Preseason Coaches' Poll on Tuesday morning.
After the Siena Men finished as runners' up and the Siena Women placed 10th in last season's MAAC Championship under head coach
Elizabeth DeBole, the balloting by the 13 league coaches have high expectations once again for the Men's Team as the poll slotted them to finish in third while the youthful women's team ranked ninth in the polling.
A model of consistency, Siena has secured a top-five finish by the men in eight consecutive seasons while the women have ranked Top-5 in seven of the eight previous seasons.
Thirty-five-time defending conference champion Iona was chosen to finish first once again on the men's side, duplicating their vote totals from a year ago with 69 votes including all 13 first-place votes. The Gaels have won an NCAA record, 35 straight Men's Conference Championships dating back to 1991, and the program has claimed a MAAC/Metro-leading 40 total men's titles since 1981.
Marist was chosen second with 143 votes while the Siena Men's Cross Country team received nine fewer votes than it did from last year's poll with 141 votes followed by Rider (128) and Merrimack (105) to round out the top five.
The rest of the standings included Canisius (102), Sacred Heart (80), Quinnipiac and Manhattan (72 apiece), Fairfield (70), Niagara (44), Mount St. Mary's (33), and Saint Peter's (23).
The Saints return 15 student-athletes to its roster including All-Conference graduate student
Jackson Cayward (finished 11th in the 2025 MAAC Cross Country Championships with a time of 24:28.9), and senior
Colin Brunelle (named to All-MAAC Team with a time of 24:44.2). Graduate student
Tyler Greene narrowly missed on being an All-Conference performer as he finished 16th in the 2025 MAAC Cross Country Championships with a time of 24:48.0. The Top-15 spots are awarded the honor.
Four-time defending MAAC Women's Cross-Country champion Quinnipiac was selected first once again, finishing with one more vote than a year ago (167 votes and 11 first-place votes) followed closely by Iona who had 156 votes and two first-place votes. The Bobcats captured the 2025 MAAC Women's Championship last season with a team score of 36 to claim their fifth overall title in program history.
Marist moved up two spots from fifth to third with a total of 132 votes while Sacred Heart also jumped up two spots to fourth (131 votes). Rider was projected to finish in fifth place with 107 votes ahead of Merrimack (104), Fairfield (103) and Manhattan (64).
The women's poll was rounded out by Siena (63), Mount St. Mary's (62), Niagara (40), Canisius (39) and Saint Peter's (15).
The youth movement continues for the Saints this season with just 16 returning student-athletes and 11 freshmen joining the squad. The Saints will be led by senior
Faith Skowvron (improved seven spots from the prior year in the conference championship to 31st overall with a time of 22:15.7) with graduate student
Kate DeForest (placed 69
th in the conference championship), and sophomores
Brooke Gabriel (played 72
nd) and
Avery Kozerski (played 74
th) all looking to rise in the leaderboard this season.
Siena opens up competition for the first time on Saturday, September 4 at the Marist Opener in Poughkeepsie on Vassar Farm. The races are set to begin at 6 p.m. 2026 will mark the fourth straight year that the championship races will be held at there while the conference championship meet will be hosted by Manhattan University for the 32nd time, however the venue will switch to the new Blue Sky Sports Complex on Saturday, October 31.
For all information regarding the 2026 Metro Men's & Women's Cross Country Championships, please visit
themetro.org/sports/xc
| 2026 Men's Cross Country Preseason Coaches' Poll |
| 1 |
Iona |
169 (13) |
| 2 |
Marist |
143 |
| 3 |
Siena |
141 |
| 4 |
Rider |
128 |
| 5 |
Merrimack |
105 |
| 6 |
Canisius |
102 |
| 7 |
Sacred Heart |
80 |
| T8 |
Quinnipiac |
72 |
| T8 |
Manhattan |
72 |
| 10 |
Fairfield |
70 |
| 11 |
Niagara |
44 |
| 12 |
Mount St. Mary's |
33 |
| 13 |
Saint Peter's |
23 |
| 2026 Women's Cross Country Preseason Coaches' Poll |
| 1 |
Quinnipiac |
167 (11) |
| 2 |
Iona |
156 (2) |
| 3 |
Marist |
132 |
| 4 |
Sacred Heart |
131 |
| 5 |
Rider |
107 |
| 6 |
Merrimack |
104 |
| 7 |
Fairfield |
103 |
| 8 |
Manhattan |
64 |
| 9 |
Siena |
63 |
| 10 |
Mount St. Mary's |
62 |
| 11 |
Niagara |
40 |
| 12 |
Canisius |
39 |
| 13 |
Saint Peter's |
15 |
