COLONIA, NJ – Defending ECC Outdoor Track and Field Champion District of Columbia and defending ECC Indoor Track and Field Champion Felician tied for the top spot in the 2024-25 ECC Women’s Indoor Track and Field Preseason Poll with 109 points apiece, as voted on by the league’s 11 head coaches and announced on Monday afternoon. From those programs, Firebirds’ junior Kayla Cooper (Brooklyn, NY) and Golden Falcons’ senior Chantoya Thomas (Spanish Town, Jamaica) were voted the ECC Preseason Co-Athletes of the Year.
Felician won last year’s ECC indoor meet with 147.5 points, edging District of Columbia by 42.5 points. The Golden Falcons led all teams with six gold medals, from Aarysa Moore (60m hurdles, high jump), Imani Fitzpatrick (500m), Catherine Catipay (800m), Talia Ferguson (triple jump), and ECC Preseason Co-Athlete of the Year, Thomas (400m).
Thomas won the 400m (58.16), earned bronze for the 4x400m relay (4:05.34), and place fourth in the 200m (25.77) to earn 21 of meet-champion Felician’s total points at the 2024 ECC indoor meet. She went on to earn gold in the 200m (24.93), 400m (56.94), and 4x400m relay (3:58.50) and silver in the 4x100m relay (48.80) at the 2024 CACC Outdoor Track and Field Championships.
UDC won last year’s ECC outdoor meet with 176 points, edging eight-time defending champion Roberts Wesleyan by 37 points. The Firebirds saw individual wins from Tukey Francis (200m), Ayesha Jarrett (400m), Zoe Shaw (high jump), Serena Prince (triple jump), and Emmanuel Kouami-Katou (hammer) and swept the relays for 30 points.
Cooper won the 4x400m relay, placed second in the long jump (5.56m/18’ 3”), took third in the 100m (12.36), and added a sixth-place finish in the 200m (25.82) to earn 27 of meet-champion UDC’s total points at the 2024 ECC outdoor meet. Cooper had previously won the 200m (25.47), placed second in the 60m (7.77), and took fourth in the long jump (5.16m/16’ 11 1/4”) at 2024 ECC indoor meet.
Roberts Wesleyan, who had won eight consecutive ECC outdoor titles from 2015-23, came in third in the preseason voting with 98 points (1 first-place vote) while Holy Family (87 points), winners of back-to-back ECC indoor titles in 2021-22 and 2022-23, and Georgian Court (71 points, 1 first-place vote), winners of back-to-back ECC indoor titles in 2018-19 and 2019-20, rounded out the top five.
D’Youville (55 points), Daemen (54 points), and Molloy (51 points) were separated by just four points for the No. 6-8 spots while St. Thomas Aquinas (44 points), Queens (26 points), and Staten Island (22 points) completed the preseason poll.
Felician kicks off competition for the 2024-25 campaign this Wednesday, December 4 at the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights Midweek Clash in Teaneck, NJ.
Eight more ECC teams open their seasons on Friday, December 6 as Daemen and D’Youville compete at the Houghton December Classic (Houghton, NY), Georgian Court, Holy Family, Queens, and St. Thomas Aquinas take on the FastTrack Season Opener (Staten Island, NY), and Roberts Wesleyan splits time at the Grand Valley State Holiday Open (Allendale, MI) and Akron Haynes Lancaster Open (Akron, OH).
The three remaining ECC teams to open their 2024-25 campaigns will do so on Saturday, December 8, as District of Columbia and Molloy battle it out at the TCNJ Indoor Opener (New York, NY) and Staten Island is slated for the Youree Spence Garcia Invitational (Staten Island, NY).
2024-25 ECC Women's Indoor Track and Field Preseason Poll
T-1. District of Columbia - 109 points (4 first-place votes)
T-1. Felician - 109 points (5 first-place votes)
3. Roberts Wesleyan - 98 points (1 first-place vote)
4. Holy Family - 87 points
5. Georgian Court - 71 points (1 first-place vote)
6. D’Youville - 55 points
7. Daemen - 54 points
8. Molloy - 51 points
9. St. Thomas Aquinas - 44 points
10. Queens - 26 points
11. Staten Island - 22 points
ECC Preseason Co-Athletes of the Year: Kayla Cooper, District of Columbia and Chantoya Thomas, Felician