Detailing Syracuse cross country’s increasingly difficult course schedule
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Through two meets this season, Syracuse cross country remains unscathed. The men’s team swept the Harry Lang Invitational and Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational, while the women upset then-No. 10 Penn State in the latter.
Following a week off, SU’s campaign toughens. The Orange race Princeton twice alongside Cornell at two opposite courses. Princeton’s is made for speed while Cornell’s is made for strength. This caps SU’s regular season before the Atlantic Coast Conference and NCAA Championships at the end of October and in November.
Over the next two months, Syracuse treks to Princeton, New Jersey, Terre Haute, Indiana, and Ithaca, New York, after already racing in Hamilton, New York, and University Park, Pennsylvania, earlier this month.
Here’s a preview of SU’s upcoming courses as its men’s team builds off a flawless start and the women aim to enter national rankings for the first time this season:
Meadows Campus Cross Country Course
On Saturday, Syracuse heads to the Princeton Invitational. In last year’s rendition, SU’s men finished sixth, and the women placed 19th.
The Tigers’ course is manicured and open, making early positioning key amid repeating loops. Princeton uses the course for interval practices, making its familiarity crucial. Still, SU has a leg up, ranking ninth nationally, while the Tigers place 25th.
Syracuse returns to Princeton on Oct. 16 for the Princeton Fall Classic, where it sends half its roster.
LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course
On the same day as the Orange’s aforementioned second Princeton trip, the other half races at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute, Indiana, for the NCAA Pre-Nationals. This will be the Orange’s first look at the course they’ll hope to return to at the NCAA Championships.
The course’s first 1,000 meters are a straightaway, but runners abruptly make their first turns soon after.
From there, the terrain changes to rolling hills, and competitors must use whatever energy they saved to get through. It’s a spectator-friendly design, with few trees and other obstructions, but elevation from rolling hills often poses challenges.
The stakes also affect Syracuse’s standing. LaVern Gibson has hosted 13 Division I Championships. With it hosting again this season, SU gets an early glimpse of what it may see in November.
Moakley Course
Cornell’s Moakley Course is on the Robert Trent Jones Golf Course and, like Princeton, is all grass. While it’s generally smooth throughout, it has long stretches and several turns. The course repeats often, but two gradual 30-foot hills make it more about strength than speed.
Moakley isn’t the most difficult course SU races this season, compared to LaVern Gibson, but it’s still likely to challenge the Orange, as shown by failure to place there last year.
Buford Meredith Cross Country Course
Buford Meredith Cross Country Course in Blacksburg, Virginia, hosts the ACC Championships. Syracuse’s meet there is one of its most important this season.
Runners shift between grass and narrow, tree-lined sections. The race features three loops and two major hills — Cemetery Hill and 460 Hill — that test strength and endurance. The 460 Hill at the end of the race is especially challenging because runners push up the hill toward the race’s last kilometer.
The pressure of ACCs also factors in. Syracuse’s men’s team last won the ACC Championships in 2019 in Blacksburg, and the women have yet to win.
With the men finishing second last year and ranking first in this season’s ACC Preseason Poll, there’s pressure to deliver.
Bethpage State Park
Bethpage State Park in Bethpage, New York, hosts the NCAA Northeast Regionals, where the top two teams automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships.
The men’s race is a 10K, their longest all year. The Orange mainly run 8Ks this season, so the extra 2K is significant. The course is filled with elevation changes, and arduous hills follow straightaways just kilometers later.
If Syracuse passes despite the elevation and stakes, it returns to the NCAA Championships with a chance at its third-ever men’s national title.
