Furman wins eighth straight SoCon Cross Country Championships

MACON, Ga. – The Furman Paladins won their eighth consecutive men’s and women’s Southern Conference Cross Country Championship titles Saturday at the Georgia Premier Cross Country Course in Macon, Georgia. Furman’s Daniel Bernal won the men’s 8K race and ETSU’s Lindsey Stallworth took home gold in the women’s 5K race. Both Bernal and Stallworth were named the 2020 SoCon Runners of the Year, which is awarded to the top finisher in each race.
 
The day began with the men’s race at 10 a.m. ET, as Bernal was the first to cross the finish line in 24:20.21. VMI’s Jahanzib Shahbaz followed close behind Bernal in 24:23.74 to take home second. Following Shahbaz were Furman’s Cameron Ponder (24:44.39), Mason Coppi (24:50.24) and Aaron Wier (24:58.15) and ETSU’s Matthew Scarr (25:04.43) and rounding out the 2020 All-Southern Conference First Team was Furman’s Trent Mandato (25:14.75). On the women’s side, Stallworth ran across the line with a time of 17:15.62, good for first. Furman’s Abigail Robertson placed second, as she completed the 5K course in 17:34.32. Samford’s McKenzie Hogue (17:50.81) earned third, with Furman’s Madelynne Cadeau (17:59.35), Chattanooga’s Makenzie Jones (18:11.91) and Furman’s Emily Little (18:17.44) and Jonna Strange (18:18.05) all earning a spot on the Women’s All-SoCon First Team. 
 
The 2020 men’s Freshman of the Year recipient is Furman’s Andrew Hammel, who finished the course in 14^th place with a time of 26:06.88. Furman’s Cadeau won Freshman of the Year honors for the women with her fourth-place finish. Freshman of the Year is awarded to the first true freshman to finish both the men’s and women’s championships.
 
The Pinnacle Award is awarded to the participating student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade point average on each SoCon winning team. This year’s winner for the women is Furman’s Robertson with a 3.7 GPA. Furman’s Adam Beucler is a health science major and won the men’s Pinnacle Award with a 3.96 GPA. 
 
The Paladins scored 20 points on the men’s side and the women scored 28 to take home first. The VMI Keydets were the men’s runners-up with 63 points and ETSU took home third with 102 points. The Samford Bulldogs scored 80 points and took home the second-place title for the women. ETSU was close for third, with 83 points. Furman head coach Robert Gary was named the 2020 Southern Conference Men’s and Women’s Coach of the Year, as he led the Paladins to the championship titles. 
 
 
Men’s Team Scores
1. Furman – 20
2. VMI  – 63
3. ESTU – 102
4. UNCG  – 114
5. Samford  – 134
6. Mercer  – 142
7. Chattanooga  – 212
8. The Citadel  – 225
9. Wofford – 225
10. Western Carolina – 260

Women’s Team Scores
1. Furman – 28
2. Samford – 80
3. ETSU – 83
4. UNCG – 140
5. Chattanooga – 146
6. Western Carolina – 149
7. Mercer – 168
8. VMI – 185
9. The Citadel – 242
10. Wofford – 255

Men’s First-Team All-SoCon
1. Daniel Bernal, Furman
2. Jahanzib Shahbaz, VMI
3. Cameron Ponder, Furman
4. Mason Coppi, Furman
5. Aaron Wier, Furman
6. Matthew Scarr, ETSU
7. Trent Mandato, Furman

Women’s First-Team All-SoCon
1. Lindsey Stallworth, ETSU
2. Abigail Robertson, Furman
3. McKenzie Hogue, Samford
4. Madelynne Cadeau, Furman
5. Makenzie Jones, Chattanooga
6. Emily Little, Furman
7. Jonna Strange, Furman

Men’s Second-Team All-SoCon
8. Noah Dolhare, Furman
9. Gavin Genkins, VMI
10. Dylan Christopher, UNCG
11. Gavin Cooper, ETSU
12. Josh Hendry, Wofford
13. Adam Beucler, Furman
14. Andrew Hammel, Furman

Women’s Second-Team All-SoCon
8. Kate Mattison, WCU
9. Megan Marvin, Furman
10. Emily Lane, Furman
11. Mary Kellison Thorne, Samford
12. Nicole Matysik, Furman
13. Lauren Peterson, Furman
14. Genevieve Schwarz, ETSU

Men’s All-Freshman Team
Andrew Hammel, Furman
Carson Williams, Furman
Ben Myers, Samford
William Ray, The Citadel
Seth Robinson, Chattanooga
Joshua Kraver, Mercer
Charlie Lott, Samford

Women’s All-Freshman Team
Madelynne Cadeau, Furman
Jonna Strange, Furman
Emily Little, Furman
Megan Marvin, Furman
Kiera Snyder, ETSU
Jenna Reiter, UNCG
Beth Donnelly, Furman

Men’s Freshman of the Year
Andrew Hammel, Furman

Women’s Freshman of the Year
Madelynne Cadeau, Furman

Men’s Runner of the Year
Daniel Bernal, Furman

Women’s Runner of the Year
Lindsey Stallworth, ETSU

Men’s Pinnacle Award Recipient
Adam Beucler, Furman

Women’s Pinnacle Award Recipient
Abigail Robertson, Furman

Men’s Coach of the Year
Robert Gary, Furman

Women’s Coach of the Year
Robert Gary, Furman