GARY BY THE NUMBERS
- 51 NCAA Individual All-Americans
- 15 top-10 individual finishers at NCAAs
- 83 NCAA All-Region performers
- 42 Academic All-Americans
- 18 top-35 team finishes at NCAA Championships
- 5 team USATF Championship Qualifiers
- 5 Team USA Members
- 3 team region championships
- 22 team conference titles
- 11-straight women’s conference titles – longest streak in the nation
- 19 USATFCCCA All-Academic Awards
Rita Gary is in her 12th season as an assistant coach with the Furman track and field/cross country programs. The 2018 USTFCCCA Southeast Region Assistant Coach of the Year, she served as the Team USA women's coach for the 2020 Pan Am Cross Country Championship and as the Team USA U20 women’s coach for the 2024 World Athletics Cross Country Championships. Gary has coached 18 teams to a top-35 finish at the NCAA Championships, highlighted by seven top-15 team finishes. She has coached teams to three region championships and 22 conference titles.
During her career, Gary has coached 51 NCAA All-Americans, including 15 top-10 finishers, 42 Academic All-Americans, five team USATF Championship Qualifiers, and five Team USA Members. Her athletes have claimed 83 NCAA all-region awards, while her teams have won 19 USATFCCCA All-Academic Awards, the Heller Commitment to Community Award, and the Furman University Golden Paladin Award in both 2017 and 2018.
Several of Gary’s athletes have gone on to run professionally, including Furman Hall of Fame member Allie Buchalski ‘18, the most decorated athlete in the history of the Furman cross country/track and field program, who claimed her seventh All-American honor after finishing as runner-up in the 5,000m at the 2018 NCAA Outdoor Championships, the highest finish by any Furman track and field athlete at the national championship meet. She went on to sign a professional contract with Brooks Beasts and placed sixth in the 5,000m at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials.
Gabbi Jennings ‘21 competes professionally for Adidas/Team Boss and finished fourth in the 3,000m Steeplechase at the 2024 Olympic trials. She recorded a six-second personal best of 9:12.08 in the finals, marking the seventh-best women’s Steeplechase time in U.S. history. Jennings led all competitors with a time of 9:23.88 in the qualifying round. A three-time All-American in the Steeplechase at Furman, she placed seventh at the 2021 NCAA Outdoor Championships to finish out her Paladin career.
Under Gary’s direction, Furman won the SoCon women’s cross country title for the 11th-consecutive season in 2023. The Paladins, who own the longest active conference winning streak in the nation on the women’s side, finished second at the Southeast Region Championship, tying the highest regional finish in the history of the Furman women’s program, and placed five women on the all-region team. Furman went on to register a top-25 finish at the 2023 NCAA Championships, placing 24th, and ranked as high as 13th nationally.
The Paladins continued their decade of dominance by taking their 10th-straight SoCon cross country titles in 2022. Bethany Graham qualified as an individual for the NCAA Championships for the second-consecutive year, where she earned her second-straight All-America citation.
Abigail Robertson was named the SoCon Women's Most Outstanding Track Performer after posting a pair of wins in the 3,000m and 5,000m at the 2023 SoCon Indoor Track and Field Championships. She became Furman's second-straight female most outstanding track performer and third in four years. Freshman Jenna Mulhern claimed SoCon Freshman of the Year honors on the women's side after leading all female freshmen at the championship with 13 points, all accrued on the track. Mulhern finished fourth in the 3,000m before turning in a runner-up finish in the 5,000m run Sunday. She was Furman's second-straight freshman of the year and third since 2018. Robertson qualified for the 2023 NCAA East Preliminaries in the 1,500m, where she placed 45th.
Graham was honored as the 2021 SoCon Women’s Cross Country Runner of the Year after winning the individual title and leading the Paladins to their ninth-straight league title. She placed fifth at the NCAA Southeast Regional Championship to qualify as an individual for the NCAA Championships, where she finished 40th and was honored as an All-America. Graham opened the season with an individual victory at the Furman Invitational and went on to lead the Paladins in each of the women's meets, tallying four top-10 finishes and five top-15 finishes along the way.
During the 2022 indoor season, Madelynne Cadeau was voted the SoCon Female Most Outstanding Track Performer after scoring 20 points and winning both the 3,000m run and the 5,000m run. She was Furman's third winner of the award, joining Allie Buchalski, who won in 2015 and 2016, and Savannah Carnahan, who took the honor in 2020. Teammate Sierra Bower was voted the SoCon Female Freshman of the Year after finishing fourth in the 3,000m run and fifth in the 5,000m run. She became Furman's fourth freshman of the year on the women's side and first since 2018.
Under Gary’s direction, the Furman women won every distance event from the 800m to the 10,000m for the first time in program history at the 2022 SoCon Outdoor Track & Field Championships. The Paladin women qualified for the NCAA East Preliminaries, including Cadeau and Graham in the 5,000m, and Megan Marvin in the 1,500. Marvin reached the NCAA Championships, where she was honored as an All-American after placing tenth in the semifinals.
In the spring of 2021, Furman’s Gabbi Jennings won the 3,000m Steeplechase at the NCAA East Preliminaries, becoming just the second Paladin to win an event at the preliminaries. She went on to finish seventh in the event at the NCAA Championships with program-record time of 9:38.24. A three-time All-American in the Steeplechase, Jennings established herself as one of the top performers in Furman cross country/track and field history after earning All-America accolades in cross country, indoor, and outdoor track during her Paladin career. For her efforts, Jennings was honored as the 2020-21 SoCon Female Athlete of the Year.
Furman won the SoCon women’s cross country title for the seventh-consecutive season in 2019. The Paladin women placed second at the Southeast Region Championship, tying the highest regional finish in the history of the Furman women’s program, and placed four women on the all-region team. The Furman women entered the NCAA Championships ranked 15th but went on to score a ninth-place finish, led by Savannah Carnahan, who placed 13th, and Gabbi Jennings who finished 20th. Both Carnahan and Jennings earned their third-career All-American citations at the meet. The Furman men scored a 14th-place finish at the meet, giving the Paladins a sixth-place national combined finish collectively between the two programs.
During the 2020 indoor season, Jennings set a Furman record of 4:34.74 in the mile, ranking seventh nationally and qualifying for the 2020 NCAA Indoor Championships, which were canceled due to COVID-19. Carnahan was honored as the 2020 Southern Conference Indoor Track and Field Most Outstanding Athlete and Most Outstanding Track Performer after winning her fourth-straight 5,000m league title, and Furman claimed gold in nine events and recorded the highest point totals in the history of both the men's and women's programs at the 2020 SoCon Indoor Track and Field Championship.
Also in 2020, the Furman women's distance medley relay team of Jennings, freshman Abigail Robertson, senior Emma Grace Hurley, and junior Emma Kuntz set a new Paladin record with a time of 11:28.98, knocking over 10 seconds off the previous Furman record.
In the fall of 2018, both Furman cross country teams reached unprecedented heights, with the Paladin women rising as high as 12th in the national rankings and the men concluding the season ranked 19th in the inaugural USTFCCCA Cross Country Rating Index (CCRI). Furman was one of only 12 teams nationally to conclude the season with both genders ranked inside the top 22 in the rating.
The Paladin women, the runners-up at the NCAA Southeast Region Championship, matched their highest region finish and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships, where they scored a 23rd place finish. Furman, which concluded the season ranked 15th nationally, was led by All-American Savannah Carnahan, who paced the Paladins with 20th place finish.
During the 2017 cross country season, Allie Buchalski was named the SoCon women’s runner of the year for the third time in her career after winning her third individual league title and leading the Paladins to their fifth-consecutive league championship.
The Paladin women went on to placed second at the Southeast Region Championship, the highest regional finish in the history of the Furman women’s program, placing four women on the all-region team. The Furman women entered the NCAA Championships ranked 11th but went on to score a seventh-place finish, led by Buchalski, who placed ninth to earn her sixth-career All-American award.
At the 2018 SoCon Indoor Championships, the Paladin women set a program record with 107 points after taking the top three spots in the 800m and the mile and the top two positions in the 5,000m. Krissy Gear was named the indoor track women’s freshman of the year after winning titles in the 800m and the mile.
Eleven Furman distance athletes in six events, the most in program history, competed at the NCAA Outdoor East Preliminaries. On the women’s side, Jennings, Gear, Buchalski, and Carnahan went on to compete at the NCAA Championships, each earning All-American citations.
Buchalski, the most decorated athlete in the history of the Furman cross country/track and field program, claimed her seventh All-American honor after finishing as the national runner-up in the 5,000m, the highest finish by any Furman track and field athlete at the national championship meet. She went on to sign a professional contract with Brooks Beasts and placed seventh in the 5,000m at the USATF Championships. Gear won the 3,000m Steeplechase at the USATF Junior Championships and competed as a member of Team USA at the IAAF World U20 Championships, where she finished tenth.
Furman captured the SoCon cross country women's title for the fourth-consecutive season in 2016, and Carnahan was honored as the league's freshman of the year. The Paladin women posted a fourth-place finish at the Southeast Regional meet, barely missing automatically qualifying for the NCAA Championships by just five points. Furman placed three runners on the all-region team: Carnahan, Emma Grace Hurley, and Laura Miller.
During the 2017 indoor season, Buchalski became the first All-American in the history of the Furman women's track and field program, placing fourth nationally in the 5,000m and seventh in the 3,000m. At the 2017 SoCon Indoor Championships, the Paladins scored a program-best 97 points.
Furman had more NCAA qualifiers during the 2017 outdoor season than ever before in the history of the program, as nine distance athletes qualified in six different events, including Buchalski and Carnahan in the 5,000m and Jennings in the 3,000m Steeplechase on the women's side. Buchalski advanced from the NCAA East Preliminaries on to the NCAA Championships to take sixth place in the 5,000m to become a five-time All-American. Buchalski went on to qualify and compete at the USA T&F Outdoor Championships.
Gary led the Paladin women's cross country team to its third-straight SoCon title during the 2015 season. Buchalski, who won the SoCon individual title for the second-straight year, placed fourth at the NCAA Southeast Regionals to qualify for the NCAA Championships as an individual. She went on to become the first All-American in the history of the Paladin cross country program with a seventh-place finish at the NCAA Championships.
Buchalski was chosen the SoCon Women's Track and Field Most Outstanding Athlete and Most Outstanding Performer at the league's indoor championships after winning titles in the mile, 3,000m, and 5,000m.
At the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, Buchalski finished 14th in the 5,000m to claim second team All-American honors. She opened the outdoor season by setting a new Paladin record in the 5,000m then broke her own record at the NCAA East Preliminaries, notching the fastest qualifying time in the field. Buchalski also exceled in the classroom in 2015-16, earning a spot on the Academic All-District Team.
During the 2014 cross country season, Gary guided the Paladin women's team to unprecedented growth. The women handily defended their league title with a record-low 22 points at the conference championships then went on to finish sixth at the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships, the highest finish in Furman history. Gary also coached sophomore Allie Buchalski to the NCAA Cross Country Championships.
During the 2015 track season, the Furman distance women brought home seven SoCon track individual titles, set seven Furman school records, saw two individuals advance to the first round of the NCAA Championships, and provided Furman with its first NCAA Championship finalist (for both men and women) with Sinead Haughey’s record-setting 10K performance. Finally, freshmen Jacquelyn Crow earned her start at the USA Jr. Championships, where she placed 10th in the 1500m amongst national competition.
In her first year guiding the Lady Paladins, Gary closed out a season where every female distance runner under her tutelage set a personal best over the course of the year. Most notably, she helped guide Haughey to the league championship title in the 5,000m and 10,000m outdoors, marking only the fifth time in Furman women’s track and field history that an athlete won two events at the same league outdoor championship meet and the first time since 1996, when Salima Fountain clinched first in both the 200m and 400m. For her efforts, Haughey became the Paladins’ first recipient of the SoCon Outstanding Female Track Performer Award.
The women's program made huge strides in both cross country and track and field in Gary's second year. The women's team won the 2013 SoCon Cross Country Championships, marking the program's first title since 2006. Rookies Buchalski and Grace Tinkey, arguably the best 1-2 freshman punch in the country, represented Team USA at the Bupa Great Edinburgh XC International Challenge and North America, Central America, and Carribean XC Championship, respectively. Gary also coached Haughey to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field East Regional in the 10,000m.
As head women’s track and field/cross country coach at Miami University from 2008-2009, Gary was named the 2008 Mid-American Conference Cross Country Coach of the Year after leading the RedHawks to the first conference title in program history. Miami, which ranked as high as 35th nationally, finished sixth at the NCAA Cross Country Regional meet that fall.
Gary spent four years coaching at Michigan State before accepting the post at Miami. After serving as head women’s cross country coach/assistant track and field coach for two years, she was promoted in June 2006 to associate head cross country coach for the men’s and women’s programs/assistant track and field coach.
During her time with the Spartans, Gary was named the Great Lakes Region Cross Country Coach of the Year in both 2006 and 2007. Her 2007 team placed fifth at the NCAA Cross Country Championship, and her athletes garnered eight All-America, 23 NCAA Great Lakes All-Region, and 21 All-Big Ten citations during her tenure. Seven of her athletes were also honored as Academic All-Americans.
Prior to her time at Michigan State, Gary spent two years as an assistant coach at South Florida, where she coached the program’s first cross country All-American. She was part of the Bulls staff that was recognized as the 2003 Conference USA Coaching Staff of the Year.
A 2001 graduate of South Florida with a degree in mass communications, Gary spent two seasons as a undergraduate at Michigan State before transferring to South Florida. A six-time NCAA qualifier, Gary set two South Florida school records and was honored as a three-time Academic All-American. She led the Bulls to their first Conference USA cross country title and first NCAA Championship appearance.
A native of Saline, Mich., she is married to Furman head track and field/cross country coach and two-Time Team USA Olympian, Robert Gary. The Garys are parents of a son, Percy.
