BUFFALO, N.Y. – After coming off a strong 2024 year, the D'Youville University men's & women's cross country teams will look to build upon their success for the upcoming season.
 
"Overall I think we are a lot faster than what the conference gave us credit for," said head coach Brendan McMaster. "This could be a historic year in terms of our scoring five average even though we lost our No. 1 runners on both sides from last year. Our freshman class is really strong, and our returners are looking stronger from last year. I'm excited to see how they run this weekend."
 
On the men's side, the Saints return four runners while adding a pair of freshmen, Liam Betteridge and Maxim Stinner. Senior Hassan Muktar leads the men's team followed by junior Jack Collins and sophomores Brennen Yates and Jacob Hanna. DYU was picked No. 5 in the ECC Preseason Coaches Rankings after placing sixth in the conference championships a year ago.
 
"I expect some big things out of Brendan and Jack this season," McMaster said. "Jack has really stepped up his leadership and runs a lot of the team bonding. Brendan is crushing miles and running hard. Max and Liam are pushing these guys hard and it's good to see."
 
On the women's side, D'Youville returns four runners from last year's team while adding eight new faces to the team. Juniors Lily Schulz and Barbara Kunz will lead the pack of young runners along with sophomores Taylor Bond and Sienna Uebelhoer.
 
"I believe we will have about six runners go under 20:50 this year," said McMaster about the women's team. "Sienna and Lily have stepped up on the leadership side. And our freshmen have been running strong to start the year. Big time efforts this summer and will have some big-time results for those athletes."
 
The Saints start the season tomorrow as they head to the Doug Watts Open hosted by Edinboro University at 12 p.m.