SoCon Cross Country Championships info page

SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The 2021 Southern Conference Cross Country Championships will take place Saturday, Oct. 30, at the Lexington Golf and Country Club in Lexington, Virginia. VMI is hosting the championships for the first time since 1999.
 
The women’s 5K race begins at 10 a.m. ET, and the men’s 8K will follow at 10:45 a.m. ET. At the conclusion of the men’s race, the meet will close out with an awards ceremony to recognize the top teams and individual runners.
 
Furman, whose men’s and women’s programs have each won eight straight titles, captured the 2020 men’s and women’s championship titles at the Georgia Premier Cross Country Course in Macon, Georgia. Paladin coach Robert Gary, who has been named the SoCon Coach of the Year on both the men’s and women’s sides in each of the last eight seasons, sees his men’s squad enter this year’s championships ranked No. 16 in the USTFCCCA NCAA Division I Men’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll.
 
The reigning SoCon Runners of the Year and 2020 individual champions are both back in the field this season. ETSU’s Lindsey Stallworth won the women’s race in 17:15.62 last season, while Furman’s Daniel Bernal took the men’s race in 24:20.21. The Paladins have claimed the last five men’s individual titles.
 
Furman’s Bethany Graham owns the best women’s 5K time in the SoCon this year with her 16:41.20 at the Joe Piane Notre Dame Invitational on Oct. 1. The Paladins own seven of the top eight times in the league this season, with ETSU’s Stallworth checking in with the fourth-best time of 16:59.80 from the Live in Lou XC Classic on Oct. 2.
 
The Paladins’ Cameron Ponder boasts the best 8K time in the league with his 23:55.10 at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational on Oct. 15. ETSU’s Matt Scarr has the only other sub-24:00 time in the conference with his 23:58.20 at the Live in Lou XC Classic.
 
Admission to the meet is free. Visit the SoCon Cross Country Championships page for live results, photos and more from the championship.