Orange Compete in NCAA Championship Saturday

No. 2 SYRACUSE vs. No. 3 UConn, NCAA Semifinal
Date & Time	Saturday, Noon & 1 p.m.
Location	Louisville, Kentucky
Live Stream	NCAA.com
Live Results	NCAA.com
Meet Notes	Syracuse
Cuse Twitter	@Cuse
XC Twitter	@CuseXCTF

Ranking the Orange
- The Syracuse men enter the ACC Championship with its highest ranking in program history at No. 2
- The Orange men were also No. 2 heading into last year's NCAA Championship, where the team finished fifth in what was its best finish since 1957. The Orange have not podiumed (top-4) since that same year.
- The women enter the weekend ranked No. 18. They peaked at No. 12 this season which was also its highest ranking since the start of the USTFCCCA poll.

NCAA Championships History
- Last year's fifth-place finish was the best since 1957, which was the last time the Orange podiumed.
- The Syracuse women finished 24th at last year's NCAA Championships.
- Both programs are poised to make history this season, with the men looking to podium for the first time in 58 years, while the women look to post just their third top-20 finish in program history at the meet.
- The chart to the right shows all-12 top-10 finishes for both programs, with each team's best finish in bold.

Three Low Sticks
- The Syracuse men's team has been led all year by a talented pack of three who have been at the front of every race. Justyn Knight, Colin Bennie and Martin Hehir are coming off top-five finishes at both the ACC Championships and NCAA Northeast Regional -- a race they swept the top-three spots in.
- Bennie and Knight are both sophomores, with Hehir serving as the veteran of the group -- a fifth-year senior who earned All-America honors during a 38th-place finish at last year's NCAA Championships.

Titles Stacking Up
- The Syracuse men won its fourth-straight conference title earlier this year, which was the team's sixth in the last-seven seasons.
- The seniors became the first class in program history to graduate having never lost a conference championship.
- The Orange men also won the program's ninth NCAA Northeast Regional title (men and women combined) this year in convincing fashion by placing all-seven runners in the top- 19.

Malone Leads the Women Again
- Junior Margo Malone was the women's top finisher in every race she's run dating back to the 2014 Coast-to-Coast Battle in Beantown, a span of nine-straight meets.
- She finished last year's NCAA Championship race in 20:58.3 and led the team with a 63rd- place finish, despite an early fall.

Knight Time
- One key member of the Orange has been sophomore Justyn Knight, who has placed first or second overall in each of his four races this season.
- At the Coast-to-Coast Battle on Sept. 25, 2015, Knight placed first, running a time of 23:51.0.
- Knight's next performance was a second-place finish at the Wisconsin Adidas Invite on Oct. 16, 2015. Knight finished the event with a time of 23:35.8, and was the leader for the Orange, who won the event.
- In the Orange's win at the ACC Championships on Oct. 30, 2015, Knight also placed second, leading the team with a time of 23:24.
- At the NCAA Regionals, Knight took home the individual title, finishing in 30:28.9 to set the pace for the first place Orange.

In Search of the Four-Peat
- Senior Martin Hehir is in search of his fourth-straight USTFCCCA All-American award, having earned the honor in last year's cross country, indoor, and outdoor seasons.
- Hehir has raced four times this season, placing in the top five of each, including third place finishes at the Coast-to-Coast Battle on Sept. 25, 2015, and the NCAA Regionals on Nov. 13, 2015.

Bennie Earns Honors
- Following his first-career individual victory, at the Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational on Sept. 11, 2015, sophomore Colin Bennie was named the USTFCCCA National Performer of the Week and the ACC Men's Cross Country Performer of the Week.
- Bennie has placed sixth or better in each of his five races this season, and has been a large part of the Orange's victories at the ACC Championships and NCAA Regionals, placing fourth and second respectively.

Tuite Breaks Out
- Senior Shaylyn Tuite has recently turned in some break-out performances for the Orange.
- At the ACC Championships on Oct. 30, 2015, Tuite finished 31st overall, and third among the Orange, with a time of 21:07.8. -
- Two weeks later at the NCAA Regionals, Tuite recorded a time of 21:01.2, a mark good for second on the team and 12th overall.

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Players Mentioned

Colin Bennie

Martin Hehir

Justyn Knight

Margo Malone

Shaylyn Tuite

Syracuse University Athletics