On Monday, the East Coast Conference released their annual preseason polls for both Men's and Women's Cross Country. The polls have both the Spartan Men's and Women's squads finishing second on the season, just within striking distance of defending ECC Champion, Roberts Wesleyan College.

Last season, St. Thomas Aquinas College finished 2nd in both the ECC Men's and Women's Championship races, while the squads each enjoyed Top-10 regional rankings for a large portion of their 2018 campaigns.

The men's team returns nine runners from last year's group, including; Daniel Agostinho-Vides (So./Westwood, NJ), Kevin Bouyea (So./Queensbury, NY), James Dowd (Sr./Pearl River, NY), Jack Kantor (So./West Nyack, NY), Kyle Kondracki (Sr./Pearl River, NY), Nicholas Martello (Jr./Staten Island, NY), Aidan Russell (Sr./Pearl River, NY), Stefan Saeed (RSr./Stony Point, NY) and Matthew Tina (Jr./Oradell, NJ). Three new faces join the Spartans this season, as Hugh Durcan (Fr./Pearl River, NY), Zack Faljean (Jr./Staten Island, NY) and Jason Luft (Jr./Fort Morgan, CO)  make their way to Sparkill this fall.

On the women's side of the ledger, eight returners make up the core of this season's roster, including; Samantha Biss (So./Ringwood, NJ), Kayla Cobelli (Jr./Lake Peekskill, NY), Laura Herbes (Sr./Pendleton, OR), Abagaile Kimbrell (Jr./Monroe, NY), Gabriella Mott (So./Lake Ronkonkama, NY), Emma Mae Sheedy (So./Yigo, Guam), Shannon Thompson (RJr./Washingtonville, NY) and Aida Torpey (Sr./Tomkins Cove, NY). Joining the 2019 squad will be a familiar face on the track & field scene in Ruby Pekin-Schlicht (Fr./Campertown, Victoria Australia), along with two new faces; Jenna Borenkoff (So./Suffern, NY) and Sierra Perry (Fr./New Rochelle, NY).

The biggest change for the St. Thomas Aquinas College Cross Country teams will be on the coaching staff, as Interim Head Coach Ray Kondracki takes the helm for the Spartans. Kondracki comes to St. Thomas Aquinas College after a legendary 34-year career as the Cross Country and Track & Field Coach at Clarkstown South High School in nearby West Nyack, NY. However, Kondracki is no stranger to the STAC Campus, as he is an Alumni of the college ('81), a former Spartan Track athlete, and currently serves as an Adjunct professor in the college's Graduate Education program. 

Coach Kondracki will have another legendary Rockland County coach in Joe Biddy as his assistant, along with another familiar face to many, as Julie Hudak returns to STAC for her second stint on the coaching staff. Together, coaches Kondracki, Biddy and Hudak will look to continue to maintain the successful culture built within the program over the last handful of years, while helping to write a new chapter in the storied history of St. Thomas Aquinas College Cross Country.

The Spartans will open their 2019 season in Van Cortland Park (Bronx, NY) at the Fordham University Fiasco/Ed Joyce Memorial on Saturday, September 7th.

Full 2019 Schedule

2019 ECC Men's Cross Country Preseason Poll

2019 ECC Women's Cross Country Preseason Poll