SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The UNC Greensboro (UNCG) men's cross country team was tabbed to finish third in The Southern Conference (SoCon) Preseason Poll, the league office announced on Thursday afternoon. 
 
The Spartan men are looking to build on consecutive third place finishes at the 2024 and 2025 SoCon Championships, which are set to take place again at the Tryon Equestrian Center (Mill Spring, N.C.) on Oct. 31. 
 
This year's squad returns seven runners from the 2025 SoCon Championship lineup, with plenty of experience present for Head Coach Kaleigh Roach. Five of the returners booked top-32 places at the Tryon Equestrian Center last season.
 
Sophomore Luke Hühn leads the pack after a 2025 campaign where the native of Hanover, Germany, earned SoCon Freshman of the Year and Second Team All-SoCon honors thanks a 12^th-place finish at the Conference Championship. Hühn's finish marked the second straight year a Spartan finished top-12, following now-Assistant Coach Colin Keck. It was also the second straight season a UNCG runner earned recognition as a freshman after Logan Ruffner took home All-Freshman recognition in 2024. 
 
Also back are Khalid Abdullahi (18^th), Logan Ruffner (22^nd), Pierson Guerrant (25^th), and Lane Prochaska (32^nd). Each of those four improved on their places from 2024. 
 
The Spartans went on to finish 22^nd at the NCAA Southeast Regionals, which were held at Panorama Farms in Charlottesville, Virginia. Abdullahi and Hühn led the squad in their first Regional appearances. 
 
The Blue & Gold have three meets on deck before arriving at the postseason, the men getting underway on Sept. 19 at the adidas XC Challenge after the women begin the 2026 campaign on Sept. 4 at the Elon Friday Night Lights meet. UNCG's men placed seventh in Cary last season to open the year before winning the Spartan Classic and placing seventh at the Panorama Farms Invitational. 
 
This year's squad features eight upperclassmen (one graduate, three seniors, and four juniors) and three freshmen, as Gunnar Douglass, Sebastian Frickel, and Jonathan Marsden join the 16-man squad. 
 
The adidas XC Challenge will take place on Friday, Sept. 18 at the WakeMed Soccer Park Cross Country Course in Cary, N.C.