Simone Grant Named East Coast Conference Indoor Track & Field Preseason Athlete of the Year; Firebirds Voted 2nd in Preseason Coaches’ Poll

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY – University of the District of Columbia senior Simone Grant was named East Coast Conference Indoor Track & Field Preseason Athlete of the Year, and the Firebirds were picked to finish 2^nd in the ECC Preseason poll as voted on by the league's head coaches.

Grant is the reigning ECC Outdoor Track & Field Athlete of the Year as she earned All-Conference honors in four different events in 2015. She was the winner in the 200 meter dash (25.84s), anchored the winning 4x400M relay team (4:02.37), took 2^nd place in the Long Jump with a leap of 5.55M, and placed 3^rd with a time of 7.94s in the 60M dash.

The Firebirds, who had their streak of two straight ECC Indoor Track & Field Championships snapped by Roberts Wesleyan last year, placed 2^nd in this year's preseason poll with 46 points. The Redhawks, a near unanimous selection with seven of the eight first-place votes, outpaced the field with 62 points.

Georgian Court comes in 3^rd with 41 points, and the final 1^st place vote went to Queens, who finished 5^th with 36.

UDC, which was the top-finishing Division II team at last week's Spartan Invitational, is off this week before competing again on January 30^th at the Terrapin Invitational at PG Sports Complex.