CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. (Aug. 23, 2016) - The LIU Post men's and women's cross country teams have been selected fourth in their respective East Coast Conference preseason polls for 2016, the league announced Tuesday.

The Pioneers, who will be guided by first-year head coach Kevin Buckley, are adding a combined total of 10 new student-athletes to the fold this season.

The men's squad was part of a three-team logjam in the poll, behind front-runner Roberts Wesleyan College. The Pioneers (43 points) closely trailed St. Thomas Aquinas College (44 points) and Molloy College (46 points).

Meanwhile, the LIU Post women's squad amassed 41 points in the tally. Roberts Wesleyan earned the nod as the favorite for the third-straight year, collecting 70 points and eight of nine possible first-place votes.

Junior Talya Williams (Schenectady, N.Y.) is the lone returning All-ECC competitor for the Pioneers in 2016. She ran to All-ECC first-team and USTFCCCA All-East Region honors last season, in addition to setting three Top-10 program records for a 5k at any course.

Buckley kicks off his inaugural year as head coach on Saturday, Sept. 3, when LIU Post travels to Poughkeepsie to run at the Marist College Invitational at 9 a.m.

2016 ECC Men's Cross Country Preseason Poll
1. Roberts Wesleyan (Seven First-Place Votes) - 63 Points
2. Molloy - 46 Points
3. St. Thomas Aquinas (One FIrst-Place Vote) - 44 Points
4. LIU Post - 43 Points
5. Daemen - 36 Points
6. NYIT - 26 Points
T-7. Bridgeport - 15 Points
T-7. Queens - 15 Points

2016 ECC Women's Cross Country Preseason Poll
1. Roberts Wesleyan (Eight First-Place Votes) - 70 Points
2. St. Thomas Aquinas - 55 Points
3. Daemen - 51 Points
4. LIU Post - 41 Points
5. NYIT (One First-Place Vote) - 39 Points
T-6. Molloy - 23 Points
T-6. Queens - 23 Points
8. Bridgeport - 17 Points
9. Dist. Columbia - 14 Points