Fox expects young, talented Syracuse team to compete nationally

Even though this is one of the youngest cross country teams Syracuse has put together — 32 of the 45 athletes are freshmen and sophomores — it might also be one of the best.

“We think we have our best team we’ve ever had,” said coach Chris Fox.

The young team has Fox and others optimistic for this season and beyond. But expectations are still high, as the men’s team is expected to run away with the Big East.

The women’s team is currently ranked No. 9. They won their first meet, the Harry Lang Invitational, and placed third in this past weekend’s Dartmouth Invitational.

Meanwhile, the men’s team placed first in both meets and is ranked No. 12.

“We expect to win the Big East, and it certainly feels like a team that could be Top 10 in the country,” Fox said of the men’s team.

The youth and the depth of the team provide reasons for all the optimism.

Andrew Bennison and Joe Kush, redshirt freshmen, both agree that the camaraderie of the team is one of its strengths. For Bennison and Kush, the team-oriented atmosphere played a big part in both of their decisions to run for the Orange.

Kush and Bennison placed third and fourth at the Harry Lang Invitational, and 10th and ninth at the Dartmouth Invitational, respectively.

Kush said the team’s strategy in the first two races was to go “in there with the mindset of having a big group up front.”

And that’s just what they did for both races.

At the Harry Lang Invitational, six of the men’s runners finished in the Top 10. At Dartmouth, seven of them finished in the Top 10.

“It’s exciting to see everyone doing really well right now,” Kush said.

Both Kush and Bennison are more concerned with team goals than their own, an attitude reflective of the rest of the team.

If the men’s and women’s teams keep up their performances, the possibility of the team placing in the top four at Nationals and earning on spot on the podium might not be far away.

Said Fox: “That’s our ultimate goal.”