SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The 2022 Southern Conference Cross Country Championships will take place Sunday, Oct. 30, at Johns Island County Park on Johns Island, South Carolina. The Citadel is hosting the championships for the first time since 2012.
 
The men’s 8K race begins at 10 a.m. ET, and the women’s 5K will follow at 10:45 a.m. ET. At the conclusion of the women’s race, there will be an awards ceremony to recognize the top teams and individual runners.
 
Furman’s men’s and women’s squads are both the nine-time defending champions of the event. The Paladins claimed the 2021 team titles at the Lexington Golf and Country Club in Lexington, Virginia, with Cameron Ponder earning the men’s individual title and Bethany Graham winning the women’s race, both earning runner of the year honors.
 
Paladin coach Robert Gary was named the SoCon Coach of the Year for the ninth straight year on both the men’s and women’s sides after Furman matched the championship’s men’s team scoring record with a perfect 15 points and set a women’s championship record with 18 points.
 
Furman’s men are seeking to become just the second SoCon team to win 10 straight men’s titles, a feat William & Mary accomplished from 1966-75. The Paladin women, who are ranked No. 27 in the latest USTFCCCA NCAA Division I Women’s Cross Country National Coaches’ Poll, already own the longest streak of women’s titles in league history.
 
Seeking to defend her individual title, Graham, a junior, has the best women’s 5K time in the SoCon this season with her mark of 16:36.50, which she posted at the Live in Lou Classic in Louisville, Kentucky, on Oct. 1. Teammate Abigail Robertson turned in the second-best time in the SoCon this season at the same event, clocking a time of 16:52.00.
 
Samford junior McKenzie Hogue, who has the fourth-best 5K time this season (16:56.69), is a two-time SoCon Runner of the Week. She owns the top 6K mark in the SoCon this season (20:19.20) by more than one second over Graham and is second by just 0.10 seconds in a 4K race with her effort of 15:20.10.
 
Furman junior Dylan Schubert owns the top 8K time in the league this season at 23:25.90, which he accomplished at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational in Madison, Wisconsin, on Oct. 14. ETSU redshirt sophomore Evan Guzman is second with his 23:59.30 effort at the Live in Lou Classic.
 
Schubert and Guzman were each named the SoCon Runner of the Week twice this season. They are the only two SoCon runners to have posted sub-24-minute 8K times so far this season.
 
Admission to Johns Island County Park is $2 per person. Visit the SoCon Cross Country Championships page for live results, photos and more from the championship.