Greatness Awaits: 2019 Men’s Cross Country Season Recap

Photo by: (Joe Murphy/American Athletic Co

Greatness Awaits: 2019 Men’s Cross Country Season Recap

1.15.20 | Men's Cross Country

PHILADELPHIA - After the conclusion of the 2018 season, head coach James Snyder and the Temple men’s cross country team had one main goal heading into the 2019 campaign: make it to the NCAA National Championship. The runners put in the work in the off-season and entered the 2019 season hungry four more. As they continued to crescendo throughout the year, the men finished a program-best fourth at the NCA Mid-Atlantic Regional. However, it wasn’t enough to send the Cherry and White to the national meet in Terre Haute, Indiana.

We continued to progress forward. Going into this year our guys had aspirations of getting to the national meet. So I tried to keep it away from the forefront of their minds and it was always a reminder of what we wanted to do but it wasn’t going to consume us.

Head coach James Snyder

Improvements by the Numbers

Despite not achieving what the Owls set out to do, there is nothing to be disappointed about when looking back on the historical 2019 season.
After finishing seventh in the region at the 2018 Mid-Atlantic Regional, Temple jumped three spots forward to finish fourth out of 25 teams at this year’s regional meet.
The Owls also saw four runners earn All-Region accolades, the most medal winners at a regional meet in program history.

To make the step forward at the regional meet like we did was impressive but it wasn’t quite where we thought we could be. And that is not to say that I am disappointed in them, that is not the case at all, but if you were to put a microphone in the guys’ faces after that meet, they would say ‘we didn’t accomplish what we set out to do.’ It’s a testament to the work those guys have put in.

Head coach James Snyder

Veteran Leadership

Temple relied heavily on senior leadership this season. The duo of Zach Seiger and Kevin Lapsansky were expected to be role models both on and off the course.
Both Seiger and Lapsansky finished in the top 20 in all but one race this season and have played a critical role in building the Temple men’s cross country program to where it is now.
Coming in as freshmen, the pair immediately contributed to the men’s scoring team. Each season, they have built upon their work ethic and experience to help lead the Owls team.

If you were to tell the seniors four years ago ‘hey you’re going to make it just a handful of points out of making the national meet,’ while they believed that could be true, there were a lot of gaps that had to be closed up. I think we stirred up some noise nationally this year for the first time really ever. I’m certainly proud of this season.

Head coach James Snyder

2019 Accolades

The Penn State National Open on Oct. 18 could be seen as a turning point in the season for the Owls. Temple won their first meet of the season and placed four runners in the top 10. It was the perfect meet to prepare the Owls for the upcoming American Athletic Conference Championships.
At the AAC Championships in Memphis, Tenn., Temple finished in second place for the second-straight year, falling behind Tulsa who would go on to finish fifth at the national meet in Indiana.
Harry Powell, Seiger and Lapsansky all finished in the top 15 to walk away with All-Conference honors. Lapsansky earned the accolade for the third consecutive season, the only Temple men’s cross country runner to be named All-Conference three times in their career.
In 2018, only two runners earned All-Region accolades. This year, the much improved Owls saw four runners earn the All-Region status as Jensen, Powell, Seiger and Lapsansky each finished in the top 25.

I know Zach, Kevin, Donovan, Harry, Westcott, Anton, Kristian - they made our team more than something it has ever been before and certainly improved us dramatically from where we were when they arrived. So now that burden of expectation comes on the new guys.

Head coach James Snyder

Coming and Going

The Cherry and White lose six runners at the conclusion of the 2019 season, but are lucky enough to have already signed four incoming Owls.
Temple will welcome Erik Kain, Christian Fitch, Zack Marmol and Tyler Fauvelle to North Broad Street at the start of the 2020 campaign.
Coach Snyder is very excited with what these four runners will be able to contribute to the men’s cross country program.