GREENEVILLE, Tenn. --- The Tusculum University men's and women's cross country teams have a new look for the 2024 season, as first-year head coach Alaric Gwynn assembles squads that will look to duplicate last year's eighth-place finishes at the South Atlantic Conference Championship meet.
Gwynn was hired this summer after serving on the coaching staff at Elon University for the past five years, where he helped the Phoenix women to five straight conference championships and the men to three consecutive third-place finishes.
MEN'S PREVIEW
Three runners return for the Pioneers this fall, led by junior Jerry Ricker (Kingsport, Tenn.) who placed 85th at the SAC Championship. Ricker posted a career-best 8K time of 27:05.5 at the SAC meet, and had an 11th-place finish at Walters State.
Senior Ryan Drysch (Shorewood, Ill.) was 86th at the conference meet and is the top returning finisher for the Pioneers from the NCAA Southeast Regional. Junior Simon Ray (Greeneville, Tenn.) took 91st place at the SAC Championship in 27:47.9 and had a 15th-place finish at Walters State.
Newcomers for the Pioneers are freshmen Levi Carson (Stockbridge, Mich.), Ryan Harn (Waterloo, Iowa), Jack Watson (Collinsville, Ala.) and Konnor Weaver (West Alexandria, Ohio).
WOMEN'S PREVIEW
Junior Victoria Caliendo (Lake Villa, Ill.) is the lone Tusculum runner back from last year's squad. She took 92nd place at the SAC Championship in 29:21.5, and had a 20th-place finish at Walters State.
Joining the Pioneers as grad transfers are Megan Humiston (Jacksonville, N.C.), from Wingate, Tashianna Gray (Longview, Texas), from North Carolina A&T, and Alayna Suitte (Knightdale, N.C.), from Western Carolina. Sophomore Sadie Blue (Lubbock, Texas) and freshman Sofia Cuesta Fuoss (Erkrath, Germany) are the lone first-year runners in the Pioneer lineup.
SCHEDULE
The Pioneers will open their 2024 schedule on Friday, Sept. 6 in Ewing, Virginia at the Railsplitter Open. Tusculum will visit Boone, North Carolina to participate in the Firetower Project Run on Friday, Sept. 13, then the Pioneers go to Milligan for the Eli Cramer Invitational on Friday, Sept. 20.
The Pioneers will run in the Akiah McMillan Invitational, hosted by Columbia International University, on Saturday, Sept. 28 at Newberry, South Carolina. Tusculum finishes its regular season at the Newberry Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 5 ahead of the SAC Championship on Saturday, Oct. 26 also at Newberry.
The NCAA Division II Southeast Regional will be held Saturday, Nov. 9 at the Roger Milliken Center in Spartanburg, South Carolina. The NCAA Division II Championship meet is Saturday, Nov. 23 at the Haggins Oaks Golf Complex in Sacramento, California.
