PURCHASE, N.Y. – Gearing up for the start of the 2026 season, the Manhattanville University men's cross country team has been slotted No. 4 in the Skyline Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll.
The Valiants come off one of their most successful seasons in recent memory in 2025 as the team took fourth in the Skyline Conference Championship meet for the second-consecutive year. Leading the pack,
Joey DeMilio (White Plains, N.Y./White Plains) finished in 13
th with a time of 28:11.3 in the championship 8K to earn All-Conference Second Team honors for the third time in three years. DeMilio leads a relatively young Valiant squad, with only senior
Courtney Brown (Clarendon, Jamaica/Mount Vernon) and sophomores
Danny Noia (Honolulu, Hawaii/McKinley),
Aka Udeagha (Rye, N.Y./Rye) and
Khalil Williams (Menands, N.Y./Shaker) joining DeMilio as returners from last year's championship competitors.
The Valiants also made their return to regional competition last season for the first time since 2018, with Manhattanville taking 24
th place at the Niagara Region Championships last November.
Manhattanville is slated to compete in three regular-season meets, with the action getting underway on Sept. 12 at the University of Hartford Invitational. The Valiants will also run at the Saint Joseph's Long Island Invitational (Sept. 26) and the NJIT Highlander Invite (Oct. 10) ahead of the Skyline Championships, taking place on Oct. 25 at Stony Brook.
Reigning conference champions Merchant Marine took the top spot in the poll with 97 total points and eight of the 11 first place votes. Farmingdale (2
nd, 89 points), Maritime (5
th, 60) and Purchase (7
th, 50) all received one first place vote each. Manhattanville received 62 total points.
The full Skyline Preseason Coaches poll is below:
Men's Cross Country Rank, School, Points (First-place votes)
1. Merchant Marine 97 (8)
2. Farmingdale State 89 (1)
3. St. Joseph's Long Island 73
4. Manhattanville 62
5. Maritime 60 (1)
6. Yeshiva 53
7. Purchase 50 (1)
8. St. Joseph's Brooklyn 43
9. Sarah Lawrence 37
10. Old Westbury 22
11. Mount Saint Mary 19
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