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Syracuse men’s cross country climbed to No. 17 in the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association rankings released on Tuesday ahead of the Atlantic Coastal Conference championship.  

The Orange rose from their 27th-place finish last season behind two impressive team performances in their regular season meets last month.

The men started off this season with a dominant performance in West Point against Army. Syracuse placed their top nine runners in the 7.5K race, led by redshirt senior JP Trojan with a time of 22:46.6.

Trojan also placed first in the Battle at Beantown against Army and Boston College as the 8K race was once again controlled by the Orange. Eight of the top 10 finishers for the men were from Syracuse.

Tuesday’s USTFCCCA poll is its first of the season and showed Syracuse with 136 points, —13 behind ACC opponent No. 16 Virginia. No. 6 Notre Dame and No. 16 Virginia enter the ACC championship ahead of Syracuse, while No. 21 North Carolina State rounds out the four ranked teams from the conference.

Anchored by a strong team of upperclassmen runners, the Orange will compete this Friday against the rest of the ACC, including three teams ranked in the top 30. A subsequent coaches poll will be released on Nov. 3 after the conclusion of five conference championships, including the ACC.

Published on October 28, 2020 at 6:34 pm

Contact Anthony: aalandt@syr.edu | @anthonyalandt