FAIRFIELD, Conn. – The Fairfield University men's and women's cross country teams will travel to Disney's Wide World of Sport in Orlando this weekend for the 2016 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship. The championship races begin at 8 a.m. on Saturday with all of the action broadcast live on ESPN3.

Tabbed for ninth in the MAAC Preseason Coaches' Poll, Fairfield men's cross country has been led this fall by Sam Daly. Daly was the first Stag to cross the finish line in all four races in which has competed this season, highlighted by a third-place performance at Fairfield's home Fr. Victor F. Leeber, S.J. Invitational en route to MAAC Runner of the Week honors. Scott Daly – Sam's younger brother – and Mike Flanagan have consistently helped set the pace for the young squad of Fairfield harriers.

The men's 8K race is set to begin at 8 a.m. Nationally-ranked Iona won the 2015 MAAC Championship – its 25th straight conference crown – at Rosedale Park in Pennington, N.J. Sam Daly was Fairfield's top finisher in 28th place.

Fairfield's women's cross country was also selected to finish ninth by the MAAC's head coaches in September. The Stags have often finished races in packs this fall with three or four runners crossing the line in rapid succession. Stef Vickers, Sami Carey, Jacqueline-Ann Willsey, Sarah Morrissette and Kaylee Bergen have consistently been among the Fairfield pacesetters. Vickers has turned in the best individual performance of the fall to date with a 10th-place mark at the Leeber Invitational. The Stags placed second – ahead of MAAC foe Manhattan – at their annual home meet.

The women's 6K race is slated for a 9 a.m. start on Saturday. At last fall's MAAC Championship, Quinnipiac won the team title to end Iona's 10-year run atop the conference. Kathleen Woods '16 and Willsey led Fairfield at the 2015 edition of the championship.

Championship Season continues for Fairfield on Friday, Nov. 11 at the NCAA Northeast Region Championship at famed Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx.