GREENVILLE, S.C. -- The Furman women's cross country team is ranked tenth nationally, while the Paladin men are tied for 28th in the USTFCCCA Week 1 national coaches' poll.

Seven-time defending Southern Conference champion Furman is set to defend its league titles on Nov. 21, in Macon, Ga.  The Paladin men return their top seven runners from last season's team which placed 14th at the NCAA Championship, while the Furman women, who placed ninth at least year's national championship meet, return three runners to lead the 2020 squad.  Seven freshmen round out the women's team, while four newcomers join the Paladins on the men's side.

"It is a difficult charge for the USTFCCCA to accurately rank teams with so few races occurring, so I don't put too much stock in it," said Furman head coach Robert Gary.  "I hope the entirety of our program's focus is on our last time trial as well as defending our SoCon Championship next month. Similar to last year's women's team that was unranked and finished ninth in the country, I would say our men's program will end up much higher than 28th."