LANCASTER, Pa. – The Franklin & Marshall men's cross country team will seek continued improvement this fall as eight first-years join a team that sustained no losses to graduation from the past season. With that experience on their side, the Diplomats will dive head first into their schedule as they host the Little Three Meet in their season opener on Tuesday, September 1.

Athletes to Watch

The Diplomats took seventh at last year's Centennial Conference Championship before eventually placing 16th at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship. Junior Zach Houff was the team's top finisher at both the conference and regional championship a season. A national qualifier during the indoor track & field season last winter, Houff was approaching the 26 minute mark on the 8,000 meter course before adding speed during the track & field season. Classmate Tommy Tapino holds the fastest 8,000 meter time on F&M's team at 25:32 which he set at Gettysburg. Tapino was 72nd at last year's regional championship.

Sean Gorman has already broken through the 27-minute mark during his career when he set a personal best 8K time at the 2024 regional championship. Seniors Addison Neuen, Aiden Cotter, George Smith, and Cole Smith have all approached that 27-minute mark and will provide multiple runners that could challenge for scoring positions on the team. Sophomores Brian Mix and Harvey Li both set their personal best cross country times late in the 2025 season and will look to better those marks with a full year of collegiate experience behind them.

The eight-member first-year class comes from five different states, including Maine, California, North Carolina, Florida, and Pennsylvania. That group represents the largest class on the team.

In the Polls

Franklin & Marshall was picked to match last year's seventh place finish in the annual voting of the conference's head coaches. The Centennial Conference once again appears to be one of the top conferences as six of the teams are represented in the preseason regional rankings. That includes preseason favorite Johns Hopkins who is also the top-ranked team in the Mid-Atlantic Region.

The Road Ahead

The Diplomats open the season by hosting the Little Three Meet on Tuesday, September 1. F&M treks to Dickinson just 10 days later for the Long-Short Invitational. Other traditional races on the schedule feature the Paul Short Run and Gettysburg's Aubrey Shenk Invitational. Haverford will serve as the host of the 2026 Centennial Conference Championship on Saturday, October 31. Lock Haven will be the site of the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship in Mid-November when bids to the NCAA National Championship are on the line.

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