GREENVILLE, S.C. - The Furman women's and men's cross country teams have qualified for the  NCAA 2020 Cross Country Championship meet, which will be held on Monday, March 15, on the Oklahoma State Cross Country Course in Stillwater, Okla.  The women's 6K race will begin at 12:50 p.m. ET, followed by the men's 10K race at approximately 1:40 p.m. ET.

This year marks the fourth-consecutive appearance at the NCAA Championships for the Paladin women's team, which is currently ranked 14th nationally.  The Paladins, which claimed their eight-consecutive Southern Conference title in November, posted a seventh-place finish at the 2017 national meet, the team's first trip to the NCAA Championships, and finished 23rd in 2018.  Most recently, Furman recorded a ninth-place finish at the 2019 national meet.

The Furman men's team, which also scored its eighth-straight league title in 2020, is making its seventh team appearance at the NCAA Championships.  The Paladins placed 12th at the national meet in 1965 and posted a 13th-place finish in 2015.  Furman most recently appeared at the national championships in 2019, when the Paladins finished 14th.

"I give a huge congratulations and thank you to everyone who is associated with our program," said Furman head coach Robert Gary.  "We have had a mantra of being the first/best to pivot with this unique year, and I am very proud of out staff, student-athletes, as well as other stakeholders for challenging ourselves to accomplish our program's mission focuses.  SoCon Championships and NCAA representation is how we grade ourselves outside of the classroom and community.  I absolutely love how young this team is -- we only lose a couple out of our entire cross country roster following this season." 

The championships will be broadcast live on ESPNU and the ESPN app beginning at 12:30 p.m. ET on March 15.  Complete results will be posted following the meet at http://www.furmanpaladins.com.