Syracuse Men’s Cross Country Finishes Second At ACC Championships For Third Straight Year
By Jared Valentin | @jaredvalentin_
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Expectations were sky-high going into the ACC Championships for Syracuse Men’s Cross Country. After a fourth-place ranking in the latest USTFCCCA poll, SU was peaking at the right time. That No. 4 spot marked the highest the Orange were ranked all season. Not to mention, Syracuse was the highest-ranked team in the ACC, and the only squad in the conference in the top ten. The closest rival was North Carolina in the 11th spot.
When it was all said and done, the Orange came up just short of the ACC crown with a second-place finish in Friday’s conference championships. SU tallied 65 points on the day but was just behind UNC’s 49 points for first place. Individually, Syracuse’s Paul O’Donnell led the way taking second place and traversing the 8k course in 23:08.2. Senior Perry Mackinnon and Sophomore Sam Lawler also made the top ten finishing in 23:15.2 and 23:28.9 respectively. Nathan Lawler (23:48.4) and Assaf Harari (23:55.7) rounded out the Orange’s top five.
This is the third straight year SU finished second at the ACC Championships. Last season, Syracuse scored 86 points but could not beat Wake Forests’ 44. The Orange had just one runner in the top ten while the Demon Deacons had four of their top five in that group. In 2021, Notre Dame got the best of SU with just 32 points to Syracuse’s 84. Runner Dylan Jacobs placed second overall for the Fighting Irish with an 8k time of 23:30.
Despite the loss, there was a silver lining for SU. Runners Paul O’Donnell, Perry Mackinnon, and Sam Lawler were each honored as All-ACC. This is the second year in a row the Orange have had at least 3 runners qualify for an All-ACC team.
Syracuse travels to New York City for the NCAA Northeast Regional Meet on November 10th. SU won last year’s meet scoring just 65 points. Runners Nathan Lawler and Paul O’Donnell both placed in the top ten for the Orange.
