Syracuse Cross Country Ranked in the Coaches’ Poll

Coming off a sweep at the Battle of the Beantown, Syracuse men’s cross-country jumped up in week one of the coaches’ poll. Having received voted in the coaches’ poll, the women’s squad is one of three ranked teams in the Northeast region.

At the end of the last season, Syracuse was ranked outside of the top 25. Going into the rescheduled 2020 NCAA Championships on March 15, Syracuse is now ranked 17 overall, sitting behind ACC opponent Virginia and in front of Indiana.

Syracuse has a promising, young squad of athletes. As a team and individually, Syracuse showed dominance in their latest competition in Boston. The women’s team finished with a comfortable lead in the 5k, taking first place with a time of 1:30:39. Army West Point was in second, with a time of 1:30:53. On the men’s side, they followed up the winning efforts of the women’s team with a solid performance of their own. In the 8k, Syracuse men ran a 2:04:14 with the average time of 24:50 for a first-place finish over West Point (2:07:39).

As for stand-out individual performances in Boston, sophomore Amanda Vestri ran a remarkable time of 17:22 in the women’s individual results of the 5k. She finished four seconds ahead of second place, and over 20 seconds ahead of third place. Freshmen Savannah Roark, Sarah Connelly, and Kate Kemnitz also had promising days, finishing five, six, and eight, respectively.

The men’s side showed pure dominance at the Battle of Beantown. Syracuse had eight of the top 10 finishers, six of whom are either freshmen or sophomores. JP Trojan edged out fellow sophomore Joe Dragon by .1 milliseconds. The men finished with a time of 24:40.4 and 24:41.1. Notable times include Matthew Scrape, who came in fourth with a time of 24:46.5. He was followed by a pack of Orangemen, including freshmen Alex Comerford and junior Nathan Henderson.

The Syracuse men and women’s cross-country team proved they belong in the nation's top 20. Catching the teams in the upper echelon could take drastic measures, but the youth can prove to be an advantage for Syracuse going forward.

Syracuse is set for ACC competition to conclude this weekend, starting Friday. In the ACC, Notre Dame leads the conference as a No.6 overall seed. On the women’s side, NC State is the leader of the conference (No.4) followed by Notre Dame (No.12). Full details still to be determined.