Nov. 30, 2011

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - The Boston University men’s and women’s track & field teams were each selected to finish second in the America East preseason coaches’ poll, the conference announced on Tuesday.

The women’s team received three first-place votes and was slated to finish second for the third straight season. The Terriers earned 59 points, just three behind defending champion Albany. The Great Danes topped the poll with 62 points and six first-place votes.

BU was followed by New Hampshire (49 points), Maine (39), Vermont (34), Binghamton (28), UMBC (25), Stony Brook (20) and Hartford (8). The Terriers finished second in the 2011 conference championship.

The Terriers are led by first-team All-American Katie Matthews. The senior captured conference gold in the 5,000-meter run before heading to nationals where she placed sixth in the same race to earn All-America status. Senior Shelby Walton, one of the conference’s top sprinters, took top honors in the 60-meter dash last year while Allison Barwise placed first in the pentathlon. The Terriers are the only team, men’s or women’s, other than Albany to win a conference title since 2009.

On the men’s side, BU received one first-place vote and 54 total points. Albany earned the other eight first-place votes and 64 total points. The Terriers were followed by Binghamton (50), UMBC (41), New Hampshire (38), Maine (30), Vermont (24), Stony Brook (15) and Hartford (8).

BU returns several key components from its third-place team last season. Sophomore Rich Peters won the mile run at last year’s championship and is one of the three sub-four-minute milers from the Valentine Invitational. Peters, along with Balint Horvath and David Krinjack, all return as members of the Terriers’ 4x800 relay team that captured gold a year ago. Meanwhile, R.J. Page looks to make that final push as he finished second in the 60-meter dash.