Syracuse cross country opens 2026/27 season with dominant Harry Lang Invitational performance

By: Jack Knight | @Jack_On_Sports 

Syracuse cross country came into its opening week of action with some high expectations. The men’s squad was ranked ACC preseason co-favorites with Wake Forest and then slotted the 13th best team in the nation by the NCAA’s Preseason Coaches Poll. SU’s women’s team  came in at fourth in the USTFCCCA Northeast Region Poll.

But the preseason hype means nothing once the runners hit the course. The Orange dominated last year’s Harry Lang Invitational as both the men’s and women’s group had first-place finishers, the men’s side owning the entire top seven. 

The Harry Lang Invitational began with the women’s race on a 5k course. Head coach Brian Bell raced solely underclassmen against Colgate and Binghamton to give younger players reps: sophomores Mackenzie Cook, Brielle McClarnon, Josie Baker and Sarah Lawson, and freshman Natalie Fouts. 

But the youth didn’t show as the women’s team won its 5k with 19 points and an average time of 18:18.1. Colgate was able to grab a second place finish with 42 points, but it was SU the entire morning. Four of Syracuse’s five runners finished inside of the top five and Cook won the race. Fouts was the only freshman to place in the top 10, crossing the finish line at 18:17.9. 

Just 10 minutes later, the men’s 6k race began. 

The Orange couldn’t have done any better than they did just a year ago, and also didn’t bring a single senior or junior to Hamilton. But the young guns stepped up: SU notched a 15-point perfect score in the men’s 6k. The ‘Cuse only sent five runners, but all finished in the top five with an average time of 19:04.4. Freshman Charles Guerrera won the race at a blazing 18:44.9 mark, and an Orange-out followed. 

Syracuse’s fifth and final finisher, freshman Xavier Richardson, was over 30 seconds faster than the first non-SU runner. The Orange’s men’s team showed that their accomplishments last May were no fluke. SU made the two-hour bus trip to Colgate and fully took care of business in a domination of two New York foes.

The ‘Cuse next take the course a week from today at Penn State’s Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational. Make sure to follow my X account, @Jack_On_Sports, for everything Syracuse cross country.