GREENVILLE, S.C. -- For the second-straight week, the Furman men's cross country team is ranked 23rd in the latest U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) poll.

In the Southeast Region, the Paladin men are ranked fourth, while the Paladin women's team ranks 12th.

The Paladin men placed 16th and the women finished 22nd earlier this month in highly ranked fields at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational in Madison, Wis. 

Senior Chris Knight recorded a time of 23:19.7 to lead Furman in 36th place, while sophomore Ty Jones finished 47th with a time of 23:33.2.  Senior Trevor Coggin posted a time of 23:46.3 for 81st place, and senior Owen Shifflett placed 123rd at 24:02.9.  Sophomore Zach Youngblood took 142nd place at 24:09.4 to complete the Paladin scorers, and junior Colin Eckerman finished 183rd at 24:29.7. 

On the women's side, sophomore Tessa Walter paced the Paladins with a time of 20:24.2 to finish 56th.  Sophomore Elly Velasquez turned in a time of 20:40.9 for 83rd place, and freshman Georgy Helmers finished 108th at 20:56.9.  Junior Nysa Males crossed the line in 21:10.8 to place 147th, while freshman Bridget Dunn finished off the Furman scoring in 179th place at 21:33.1.  Juniors Zoie Lamanna and Rory Sullivan placed 182nd (21:36.6) and 185th (21:39.0), respectively. .

Most recently, select members of the Paladin men's team ran at the Upstate Invite in Spartanburg on Saturday.  Junior Colin Eckerman finished as runner-up, while freshman Evan Spreitzer turned in a ninth-place finish.  

USTFCCCA Regional Cross Country Rankings are determined subjectively by a single member coach in each respective region. The regional representative is tasked with weighing returning team strength with current-season results in determining predicted team finishes at the NCAA Regional Championships.

Furman will defend its league titles October 31 at the Southern Conference Championship at the Tryon Equestrian Center in Tryon, N.C.

Both Paladin teams were picked to win their 14th-straight SoCon titles in 2026.  The Paladins, who own the nation's longest active conference winning streak on the women's side, extended their run of success last season by scoring 23 points in the women's race of the 2025 SoCon Championship.  Furman captured three of the top five spots and placed six runners among the top nine.  The Furman men, who claimed six of the top seven individual spots and scored 20 points last year, extended their league record for consecutive SoCon team titles — a distinction the Paladins claimed in 2023.

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