ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The Roberts Wesleyan University men's cross country team will have a new look this season. Actually, it will have several of them.
The Redhawks have won 10 consecutive East Coast Conference Championships, but four of the six Roberts runners who finished in the top 11 at last season's ECC title race have moved on meaning Roberts will have several runners looking to make their mark this fall.
"It feels like it's finally fully turned over to a new generation," Roberts Director of Cross Country and Track & Field
Andrew Dorr said. "If it were not for
Jackson Doran, it would be just a completely different team than it was two years ago."
Here are five things to know about the Redhawks:
JACKSON'S BACK IN ACTION
Jackson Doran missed the 2024 cross country season, but that didn't stop ECC coaches from making the senior from Lockport, N.Y., a unanimous choice for Preseason Runner of the Year.
"It feels pretty cool," Doran said. "I wasn't able to run last year, so I was a little surprised (with the selection), but I am super ready and super excited."
Doran finished second at the 2023 ECC Championships and is coming off a spring season that saw him set a school record in the 1,500 meters and win the ECC title in the 800.
"He is as strong as ever," Dorr said. "He's coming off an amazing track season and he had a great summer of training. Anything could happen, but he is in a great spot right now."
SOPHOMORES LOOK TO STEP UP
The Redhawks return four runners who earned All-ECC honors last fall and all are sophomores.
Trevor Heitkamp placed seventh at the ECC race to snare a spot on the first team and
Jakob Zibbel (eighth),
Juvenal Diaz-Cortes (ninth) and
Nathan Demarest (12
th) were second-team selections.
Heitkamp and Zibbel are coming off spring track seasons that saw them run the two fastest 5K times for freshmen in Roberts' history.
Four more sophomores –
Charles Matzke (18
th),
Caleb Price (22
nd),
Boston Dues (28
th) and
Hunter Himebaugh (29
th) – placed in the top 30 at the conference meet.
NEWCOMERS LOOK TO CONTRIBUTE
Roberts welcomes eight first-year runners to the program this fall.
Joel Amstutz,
Ben Brown,
Braden Fears,
Tyler Klawon,
Cooper Krause,
Isaiah McIntyre,
Josiah Rodriguez and
Roman Smith are looking to make the adjustment from high school to college and find their own ways to contribute to the program.
POLL POSITION
Roberts received all seven votes and was a unanimous selection to finish first in the ECC Preseason Coaches' Poll again this season.
The Redhawks totaled 49 points while Molloy finished second with 40 and Daemen totaled 32.
REDHAWKS HAVE EMPIRE STATE OF MIND
Roberts, which opens its season on Saturday at the Tom Balon Alumni Classic at SUNY Brockport, will spend its entire regular season competing in the state of New York.
The Redhawks are also scheduled to run at the Hamilton Short Course Meet before hosting the Harry F. Anderson Invitational on Sept. 27 during Homecoming Weekend.
The slate continues with a trip to the Canisius University Alumni Classic in Buffalo on Oct. 18 and wraps up at the ECC Championships at Sunken Meadow State Park in Kings Park, N.Y. on Oct. 25.
The East Regional is set for Nov. 8 in Hopkinton, N.H.
