Justyn Knight and Paige Stoner look to lead Syracuse cross country to success at NCAA Championships

Competing in their final collegiate cross-country meets, Paige Stoner and Justyn Knight hope to help Syracuse find success at the NCAA Championships on Nov. 18 in Louisville, Kentucky.

After an at-large selection gave the women’s team an opportunity to compete in its eighth championship meet in 10 years, the team is in a “fun position,” Stoner said, leading up to NCAA Championships.

“No one really has expectations for us,” Stoner said.

Going into her final meet for SU, Stoner wants to improve on her second-place finish at the Northeast Regionals on Nov. 10 in Buffalo. Though she hasn’t competed in a NCAA Championships meet, Stoner could place higher than any other woman in program history, coach Chris Fox said. For that to happen, she would have to place inside the top 20.

Stoner pointed towards staying calm and running with teammate Shannon Malone as keys to the race. If she wants to fulfill her end goal of becoming an All-American, she needs to do that and more, she said.

“They have two great leaders in Paige and Shannon,” Fox said. “If they match their performance at regionals, they are gonna place around 20th.”

Knight, meanwhile, has been through this process before. This is his fourth and final NCAA championship meet. Victory has eluded Knight the past three seasons, but his experience will be vital this time around, he said.

“I’m going in with the mindset that I’ve been there, done that,” Knight said.

For the men’s team to win its second NCAA title in three years, every runner needs to have their best day, Fox said. Syracuse has a good chance to contend with top programs like Northern Arizona and BYU because the team has had only one disappointing meet this season, Knight said, meaning the Nuttycombe Invitation in Wisconsin.

Syracuse is no stranger to E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park, the site of their 2015 NCAA Championships victory. The fact that the team has won there before, including the ACC Championships on Oct. 27, gives Syracuse an advantage, Knight said.

“It’s an emotional bump for us,” Fox said.

After a season start that was delayed from competing in the IAAF track world championships through mid-August, Knight knows he has experience that many others don’t from running on a worldwide stage.

“I had a good finish at world championships,” Knight said. “Hopefully I can go two for two.”