PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Plymouth State University men's cross country team was picked to finish fourth at the Little East Conference (LEC) Championships as the league released its Preseason Coaches' Poll on Wednesday.
 
Plymouth State earned 45 points to finish fourth in the poll. Keene State earned seven first-place votes and 63 points to comfortably lead the poll, but the next four spots were separated by just four points. UMass Dartmouth (48) and Eastern Connecticut (47) each received one first-place vote to rank second and third, respectively, just ahead of the Panthers (45) and Southern Maine (44).
 
Rhode Island College (30), UMass Boston (20), WestConn (14) and VTSU Castleton (13) rounded out the poll.
 
Head coach Alice Field enters her third season at the helm after leading the Panthers to second-place finishes at the LEC Championships in each of her first two years. All five point-scorers at last year's championship meet finished in the top 20 and return to compete in 2026.
 
Junior Noah Francis (Bethlehem, N.H.) led the squad with a fourth-place finish last year, while fifth-year Max Goodman (South Salem, N.Y.) finished seventh. The pair earned All-LEC First Team honors.
 
Senior Angelo DeLuca (Lynnfield, Mass.) earned Second Team honors after lowering his personal best by nearly 50 seconds to finish eighth, while seniors Ben Colby (Manchester, N.H.) and Cooper O'Neil (Millbury, Mass.) provide additional veteran leadership after placing 19th and 20th, respectively, last fall.
 
The Panthers begin the 2026 season at the NCAA Regional Preview, hosted by Bates College at the Wainwright Recreation Complex – the site for this year's regional meet – in South Portland, Maine, on Sept. 5. VTSU Castleton serves as the host for the LEC Championships on Oct. 31, before PSU heads back to Maine for the NCAA Division III East Regional Championship on Nov. 14.