An up-and-coming Emory men’s cross country team came through with some exceptional performances during the fall and in the process laid the foundation for a promising future.

First-year Head Coach Linh Nguyen saw his runners dial up five top-four finishes including first-place performances at the Berry Invitational and the NCAA South/Southeast Region Championships, the first time since 2015 that the Eagles had captured the No. 1 post in that competition. By virtue of its finish at Regionals, the Eagles landed an automatic bid to the NCAA D-III Championships for a seventh straight campaign. At the national meet, Emory turned in a 17th-place finish out of 32 teams, the program’s best showing since 2008.
 
Junior Jack Whetstone blossomed into a premier performer, becoming the first Eagle to earn All-America acclaim since 2009 when he placed 14th overall at the NCAA Championships. The team’s No. 1 runner in all seven of the races he took part in, Whetstone took home the top spot at the NCAA/ Southeast Championships, the first Emory runner since Lukas Mees in 2015 to accomplish that, resulting in him being named the Region’s Male Athlete of the Year.

Sophomore Spencer Moore made a significant impact on the team, scoring in six of his seven meets. The Eagles' No. 2 runner of five occasions, he registered a personal-best 8K mark of 25:01 at the Louisville Classic.  Moore raced to all-region accolades after finishing fourth overall (second on team) out of 239 runners at the NCAA South/Southeast Championships with a time of 25:11.

Junior John Cox continued his upward rise in the program, scoring in six of the seven meets he competed in. The Louisville Colorado native brought home all-region acclaim after crossing the finishing seventh overall (third on the team) with a personal-best 8K time of 25:17 at the NCAA South/Southeast Championships. Cox was the squad's No. 2 finisher and 86th in the 280-runner field at the NCAA D-III Championships after posting a time of 25:22 which represented his second-fastest mark.

Brett Lucas wound up his second season in the program and scored in six of his seven competitions.  He clocked a personal-best 8K time of 25:25 at the NCAA D-III Championships, with that performance ranking third among the Emory pack and 94th overall. He garnered all-region honors after his 11th-place finish at the NCAA South/Southeast Championships (25:27).

In addition, Nguyen was tabbed as the USTFCCCA as the South/Southeast Region Men's Coach of the Year.

2019 represented the final year for seniors Sam Branson, Alex Campbell, Andrew Kliewer and Bobby Wilson.

Honors and Awards