Women's Track and Field | 1/8/2016 2:00:00 PM
Moon Township, Pa. – According to a poll of Northeast Conference (NEC) head coaches, the
Robert Morris University indoor track & field team has been picked to place seventh in the league this season as announced by the conference office Friday afternoon.
Defending NEC champion Sacred Heart was selected as the overwhelming favorite by the coaches as it earned eight of the 10 first-place votes. LIU Brooklyn followed the Pioneers and grabbed the two remaining first-place nods.
Central Connecticut, Saint Francis (Pa.), Wagner and Mount St. Mary's occupy the four places immediately ahead of RMU. Following the Colonials in the poll are Fairleigh Dickinson, Bryant and St. Francis Brooklyn.
Led by first-year head coach
Caitlin Cotter, RMU returns a half dozen student-athletes that scored in last year's NEC Championships. Robert Morris finished fifth at last year's league meet with 55 points.
Senior
Olivia Loy highlights the Colonial returnees as she will look to continue Robert Morris' dominance in the league in the pole vault. Loy took the silver at the conference championships a year ago by clearing 3.70 meters. Loy, who has qualified for the ECAC Championships in each of her first three seasons, will look to make a Colonial the conference champion in the pole vault for the fifth time in the last six years.
Sophomore
Breanna Manzolillo joined Loy in scoring in the pole vault for RMU at the NEC Championships a year ago.
Senior
Tatianna Struble will look to finish her collegiate career in style and improve on her fifth-place finish in the 60-meter hurdles at last year's NEC Championships.
Senior
Jessica Guyett has placed among the top six at the NEC Championships in the shot put in each of her first three seasons and also participated in the ECAC Championships in 2014. After not competing in a meet last season, junior
April Krivoniak will look to return to the form she showed in a strong rookie campaign in 2013-14. The starter from the Colonial volleyball team earned All-East Coast honors at the ECAC Championships in the shot put in 2014.
Sophomore
Tricia Panos will look to build off last season's NEC All-Rookie selection in the long jump while senior
Brittany Shay returns after scoring in the 800 meters at last season's league championships.
RMU opened its 2015-16 season in December at the
Navy Lid Lifter. After taking time off for the semester break, the Colonials will resume action Saturday, Jan. 9, at the Penn State Relays.
Robert Morris and its league foes will be competing for the conference title at a new location this season. After the NEC Indoor Championships took place in Landover, Md. for the past 16 years, the 2016 Championships will be contested at Ocean Breeze Track and Field Athletic Complex in Staten Island, N.Y. The event will take place Feb. 19-20.
2015-16 NEC Women's Indoor Track & Field
Preseason Coaches Poll
(first-place votes)1. Sacred Heart (8)
2. LIU Brooklyn (2)
3. Central Connecticut
4. Saint Francis (Pa.)
5. Wagner
6. Mount St. Mary's
7. Robert Morris8. Fairleigh Dickinson
9. Bryant
10. St. Francis Brooklyn
