Catching up with Syracuse XC

The Syracuse Orange cross country teams are hard at work preparing the head into the stretch run of their season starting with next weekend’s Pre-Nationals meet. The Orange welcomed back alums Griff and Cassie Graves as new members of the coaching staff (Cassie will serve as a Volunteer Assistant). Both of them ran at Syracuse during the Fox and Bell tenure and return after spending time on the staff of the Florida State Seminoles. Having two former runners who are familiar with the program and training system will benefit the current athletes.

The Orange men continue to hold the #8 ranking nationally (and top spot in the Northeast Region) in the USTFCCCA poll. Aidan Tooker was named last week’s ACC Male XC Athlete of the Week becoming the 3rd Syracuse runner to receive the award this season as Nathan Henderson and Iliass Aouani received the honor in September. Orange newcomer Joey Eovaldi has been named ACC Freshman of the Week twice this season.

The Syracuse women dropped down to 5th in the Northeast Region poll after the Coast to Coast Battle. The Orange will hope to get some reinforcements into their lineup for Pre-Nationals and they will have opportunities to improve their potential NCAA at-large points during the next two meets.

Syracuse travels to Madison Wisconsin for the Pre-Nationals meet hosted by the Wisconsin Badgers on October 13th. This meet will give us a good idea of where the Orange stand heading into the championship portion of their season.