EAST STROUDSBURG - East Stroudsburg University's men's cross country team was picked to finish sixth at the 2009 PSAC Championships in late October while the women were selected 12th of the 16 schools in a poll of the conference's coaches, it was announced Friday afternoon.

The Warriors' men's squad returns its top five runners from last year's team that placed sixth at the PSAC Championships and will be led by seniors Pat Carr, Ryan Doyle and Kyle Weir, junior Chris Zadroga and sophomores Doug Jankowski and Greg Laraia.

Doyle was 22nd for ESU's top performance at the conference meet last year, while Jankowski was the Warriors' top finisher in four of their eight meets, including the NCAA Regionals.

The women will look to improve on last year's 14th-place showing in the conference led by senior Niki Pasquarella, who has turned in the Warriors' top time in 12 of 13 meets over the last two years. She was 31st in the PSAC last fall. Junior Amy Moratz, ESU's second runner at PSAC's last year, and sophomores Brooke Dunphy and Jonna Trexler were also among the team's top five throughout the season.

Edinboro is the preseason favorite on the men's side, with 12 first place votes, followed by Lock Haven which picked up the other four. Shippensburg received all 16 first place votes for the women's championship.

ESU opens the season on Saturday, Sept. 12 at the Fordham Ram Invite at Van Cortland Park in the Bronx. The Warriors will host the sixth annual Nevins Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 24, the week before the PSAC Championships at Edinboro. Mansfield will host the NCAA East Regional on Nov. 7.