Saucony Flo50 XC Countdown: #16 Furman Men

Saucony Flo50 XC Countdown: #16 Furman Men

Check out the Saucony Flo50 XC Countdown, where FloTrack ranks the top 31 cross country teams in the NCAA this season. The No. 16 spot goes to Furman this y

Aug 7, 2016 by Meg Bellino
Saucony Flo50 XC Countdown: #16 Furman Men
Check out the Saucony Flo50 XC Countdown, where FloTrack ranks the top 31 cross country teams in the NCAA this season. The No. 16 spot goes to Furman this year, and here's why:

Probable Top Five:
JR Aaron Templeton (8:17 3K; 14:18; 51st at '15 NCAA XC)
SR Troy Reeder (8:36 3K SC; 13:59 5K; 7th at '16 NCAA 3K SC; 109th at '15 NCAA XC)
SR Tanner Hinkle (14:09 5K; 29:16 10K; 87th at '15 NCAA XC)
JR Frank Lara (14:37 5K; 143rd at '15 NCAA XC)
JR Josh Brickell (8:13 3K; 30:21 10K; 191st at '15 NCAA XC)

Impact Freshmen/Transfers:
Mason Coppi via Dana Point, CA (8:55 3200; 8th at '15 IAAF World Youth 3K; 19th at '15 NXN)
Jake Ogden via Dana Point, CA (4:07 Mile; 8:59 3200)
Luke Meade via Bluff City, TN (9:08 2 Mile; 5th at '15 FL South XC)

Analysis:
In their second-consecutive NCAA cross country appearance, the Furman men rose from 30th to 13th in the team standings. Aaron Templeton's 51st-place finish was the program's highest at the championships. And just this spring, Troy Reeder became the program's first All American with a seventh-place finish in the steeplechase. With three high profile recruits and nearly the entire squad returning, Robert Gary's Paladins are poised to make another showing in Terre Haute.

Reeder was 58 places behind Aaron Templeton in Louisville, but expect the much improved senior to contribute big time this fall. He slashed over 40 seconds off his 5K this spring with a 13:59 effort at the Raleigh Relays and ran 8:36 (6 seconds off the Olympic standard) in the steeplechase, his first season competing in the event.

Tanner Hinkle and Frank Lara went 1-2 for Furman in the NCAA Southeast Regional last fall, with Lara having a rough showing a week later in Louisville. Josh Brickell or incoming freshman Mason Coppi should fight for the fifth position. Brickell was the sixth man in 2015, while Coppi led the Dana Hills boys team to a third-place finish at NXN.

Previously:
#17 Indiana
#18 Oklahoma
#19 Boise State
#20 Portland
#21 UTEP
#22 Oklahoma State
#23 Michigan
#24 Washington State
#25 Michigan State
#26 Villanova
#27 Louisville
#28 Tulsa
#29 Iowa State
#30 Illinois
#31 North Carolina State