GREENVILLE, S.C. -- The Furman men's and women's cross country teams, winners of 13-straight league titles, will defend their championships Saturday at the 2026 Southern Conference Championship, which will be held at the Tryon Equestrian Center in Mill Spring, N.C.

The meet will mark the 97th Annual Southern Conference Cross Country Championship for the men and the 42nd for the women.  Spectators will be charged $10 per car for parking, and parking passes can be bought in advance at https://vivenu.soconsports.com/section/-ote3.

The championships will begin with the men's 8K at 10 a.m., followed by the women's 5K event at 10:45 a.m.  The top men's and women's teams will be honored as the 2026 conference champions, while the top seven individuals in each race will be named first team all-conference.  Individual finishers placing eighth through 14th in each race will comprise the all-conference second team.

The Paladin lineup for the women's race includes juniors Zoie Lamanna, Nysa Males, and Rory Sullivan; sophomores Elly Velasquez and Tessa Walters; plus freshmen Bridget Dunn, Olivia Ferraro, Jazzlyn Garmer, and Georgy Helmers.

On the men's side, No. 23 Furman will race seniors Trevor Coggin, Chris Knight and Owen Shifflett; juniors Colin Eckerman, and Ryan Smith; sophomores Ty Jones and Zach Youngblood; and freshmen Evan Spreitzer and Lucas Tanner.

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.

Furman's Walters was honored as the SoCon Women's Runner of the Year and freshman of the year last season, while coaches Rita Gary and Robert Gary also claimed SoCon Coach of the Year honors.  

For complete results from Saturday's 2026 championship, log onto https://snapresults.snaptiming.com/meets/80022.

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