SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Furman’s Adam Beucler and The Citadel’s Heidi Fortin are the SoCon men’s and women’s cross country runners of the week, respectfully, after their performances at the Royals Challenge in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Friday.
 
Selections were made by panels of the league’s cross country coaches and included all competition from Oct. 6-12.
 
Beucler paced Furman’s men’s team at the meet hosted by Queens University, turning in a personal-best 8K time of 23:54.8 to place 11^th overall among the 337 finishers. The junior from Hudson, Ohio, led a group of Paladin reserves to a sixth-place finish in the 33-team gold race. The weekly award is the first of Beucler’s career.
 
Competing in the women’s 5K gold race at the same meet, Fortin finished 75^th of 300 competitors in 18:54.9 on a wet and muddy course at McAlpine Creek Park in the third of four races there on the day. The junior from Ogunquit, Maine, helped the Bulldogs to a 26^th-place team finish. The weekly award is Fortin’s second in three weeks and second of her career.
 
Furman, ranked No. 10 in the latest USTFCCCA national poll, will next compete at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational in Madison, Wisconsin, on Friday. The Citadel returns to action the following day at the Sand Shark Invitational, hosted by USC Beaufort in Bluffton, South Carolina.
 
2021 Southern Conference Cross Country Men’s Runners of the Week
Sept. 8             Matt Scarr, ETSU
Sept. 15            Cameron Ponder, Furman
Sept. 22            Daniel Bernal, Furman
Sept. 29            Sam Sharnas, The Citadel
Oct. 6               Daniel Bernal, Furman
Oct. 13             Adam Beucler, Furman
 
2021 Southern Conference Cross Country Women’s Runners of the Week
Sept. 8             Lindsey Stallworth, ETSU
Sept. 15            Bethany Graham, Furman
Sept. 22            Bethany Graham, Furman
Sept. 29            Heidi Fortin, The Citadel
Oct. 6               Bethany Graham, Furman
Oct. 13             Heidi Fortin, The Citadel