GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Furman men's and women's cross country teams have been picked to win their 14th-straight Southern Conference cross country crowns in preseason balloting conducted by the league's eleven head coaches, who could not vote for their own teams.
The Paladin men's squad received all ten possible first place votes for a total of 100 points, while the Furman women garnered eight first place votes and a total of 98 points. ETSU was picked to finish second on the men's side, followed by UNCG in third. For the women, Mercer was slated in second place, while Samford was picked third.
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.
The Furman women return ten competitors from last year's squad. The Paladins have won the last five SoCon Female Runners of the Year, with Tessa Walter being honored as both the league runner of the year and freshman of the year last season. Carly Wilkes claimed the honor in 2024, Bethany Graham took the award in both 2021 and 2022, and Abigail Robertson earned the honor in 2023. Eight of Furman's competitors from last year's SoCon meet return in 2026, including Walter, who won the meet last season, and Nysa Males, who finished as runner-up.
Twelve men return for the Paladin men's team, including five who competed at the 2025 league championship meet. Chris Knight placed third, while Luke Taylor finished in fifth place a year ago. The Furman men have captured the nine of the last ten SoCon Runner of the Year Awards: Frank Lara (2016), Aaron Templeton (2017 & 2018), Ryan Adams (2019), Daniel Bernal (2020), Cameron Ponder (2021), and Schubert (2022, 2023, 2024).
Furman boasts seven out of the last ten SoCon Men's Freshmen of the Year in Adams (2016), Bernal (2017), Cameron Ponder (2018), David Ahlmeyer (2019), Andrew Hammel (2020), Gabe Montague (2021), and Colin Eckerman (2024). The Paladins have claimed four of the last six SoCon Women's Freshmen of the Year by Madelynne Cadeau (2020), Kaylie Armitage (2021), Wilkes (2022), and Walter (2026).
The Paladins, who have won 33 SoCon titles over the years, open the 2026 season Sept. 12 at the Furman Invitational in Greenville, S.C.
2026 Southern Conference Men's Cross Country Preseason Poll
Team (1st-place votes) Points
1. Furman (10) - 100
2. ETSU (1) - 79
3. UNC Greensboro - 74
4. Chattanooga - 68
5. Samford - 57
6. Tennessee Tech - 53
7. Mercer - 51
8. Western Carolina - 49
9. VMI - 34
10. The Citadel - 21
11. Wofford - 19
2026 Southern Conference Women's Cross Country Preseason Poll
Team (1st-place votes) Points
1. Furman (8) - 98
2. Mercer (2) - 81
3. Samford (1) - 73
4. Chattanooga - 70
5. Western Carolina - 62
6. Tennessee Tech - 59
7. ETSU - 56
8. UNC Greensboro - 39
9. VMI - 32
10. Wofford - 21
11. The Citadel - 14
