Furman University Men's Track

Gary, a native of Chicago, Ill., is a two-time Olympian (Atlanta, 1996 and Athens, 2004), two-time World Championships qualifier, 11-time World Cross Country USA Team member, and Track & Field News 2004 Cross Country Runner of the Year.  Following an illustrious running career, Gary has established himself as a one of the nations elite coaches through his involvement with USA Track and Field, as head coach of the Ohio State mens cross country and track and field program, and now in his third season as head coach of the Furman cross country and track and field program, as well as the Furman Elite Professional Running Team.  In his role with USA Track & Field, Gary has been actively involved in preparing Team USA for international competition. Most recently, he coached the USA senior mens team to a runner-up finish and a silver medal at the 2013 World Cross Country Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland (the highest Team USA finish in history).  In 2010, he served as the  mens distance coach for Team USA at the IAAF World Championships in Daegu, South Korea. He was the head coach for the USA junior team at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Punta Umbria, Spain., and was also USAs U-23 distance coach at the North America, Central America, and Caribbean Athletic Association (NACAC) meet in Toluca, Mexico.  The 2013, 2014, and 2015 Southern Conference Coach of the Year for both the men's and women's cross country programs, Gary led the Paladins to a pair of cross country titles at the 2013 league championship meet, the women's first since 2000 and the first for the Paladin men's program since 1976, then replicated the feat in 2014, with the men taking the top nine spots at the SoCon Cross Country Championship. Two weeks later, the mens team finished second at the NCAA Southeast Regional meet to earn a trip to the NCAA Championships.  Tripp Hurt, Aaron Templeton, Tanner Hinkle, and Troy Reeder were all named to the USTFCCCA All-Regional Team. The women handily defended their cross country with a record-low 22 points at the 2014 conference championships then went on to finish sixth in at the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships, the highest finish in Furman school history. Sophomore Allie Buchalski qualified for the NCAA Cross Country Championship Meet. The Paladins earned their third-straight SoCon titles for both the men's and women's cross country programs in 2015.  The Paladin men went on to finish fourth at the NCAA Southeast Regional, qualifying for the NCAA Championships, while junior Allie Buchalski, who won the SoCon individual title for the second-straight year, placed fourth at regionals to qualify for the NCAAs as an individual.  Buchalski, Tanner Hinkle, Frank Lara, and Aaron Templeton garnered All-Region honors.   Buchalski became the first All-American in the history of the Paladin cross country program with a seventh-place finish at the NCAA Championships, while the Furman men's team took 13th place at the meet. At the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, Troy Reeder earned All-American accolades with a seventh-place finish in the 3,000m Steeplechase, becoming just the second All-American in the history of the Paladin track and field program.  Reeder set the Furman record of 8:36.51 in the event during the NCAA semifinals, clinching a spot in the finals. Also at the outdoor championships, Buchalski finished 14th in the 5,000m to claim second team All-American honors. During the 2015 track season, Tripp Hurt, Tanner Hinkle, and Sinead Haughey qualified for the NCAA East Preliminaries, with Haughey becoming Furman's first NCAA Championship finalist (for both men and women) after a record-setting 10K performance. Freshman Jacquelyn Crow earned her start at the USA Jr. Championships in Eugene, Oregon where she placed 10th in the 1500m amongst national competition. In 2013, Tripp Hurt led the Paladin men with a fourth-place finish at the meet, while Troy Reeder, who was honored as the 2013 SoCon Men's Cross Country Freshman of the Year, joined Hurt on the All-SoCon first team after finishing seventh.  Tanner Hinkle and Brock Baker earned All-SoCon second team accolades after Hinkle recorded a ninth-place finish and Baker posted a 12th-place finish.  The Paladins claimed five out of the seven spots on the All-SoCon Freshman Team, as Reeder, Hinkle, and Baker were joined on the team by Nate Riech and Connor Sorrells.  Freshman Allie Buchalski paced the Paladin women in 2013, posting a time of 17:32.43 to finish second overall and earn the 2013 SoCon Women's Cross Country Freshman of the Year Award.  Buchalski was joined on the All-SoCon first team by Grace Tinkey, who placed third.  Senior Sinead Haughey, who finished eighth, claimed a spot on the all-conference second team for the third time in her career.  Furman placed four runners on the All-SoCon Freshman Team, as Buchalski, Tinkey, Julia Rodriguez, and Laura Miller placed among the league's top seven rookies at the meet. Buchalski and Tinkey, arguably the best 1-2 freshman punch in the country, represented Team USA at the Bupa Great Edinburgh XC International Challenge and North America, Central America, and Carribean XC Championship, respectively.   During the 2014 outdoor track and field season, Hurt won SoCon Indoor Championships in the 3,000m and 5,000m and added two additional titles in the 5,000m and the 3,000m Steeplechase at the SoCon Outdoor Championships.  Hurt went on to break the Furman record in the Steeplechase at the 2014 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field East Regional, posting a time of 8:44 and becoming the first Paladin ever to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field National Championships.  Haughey and Hinkle also competed in the 10,000m at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field East Regional  In his first year at the helm of the Paladin program, Gary coached All-Region performer Wilkerson Given to a 20th-place finish at the NCAA Southeast Region Cross Country Championships, the highest finish by any Furman mens runner in at least a decade.  Given went on to reach the NCAA East Regional Outdoor Championships in the 3,000m Steeplechase, an event he had just began competing in that spring. Also during Garys first season, Haughey won league championships in the 5,000m and 10,000m outdoors, marking only the fifth time in Furman womens track and field history that an athlete won two events at the same league outdoor championship meet and the first time since 1996, when Salima Fountain clinched first in both the 200m and 400m.  For her efforts, Haughey became the Paladins first recipient of the SoCon Outstanding Female Track Performer Award. In addition to setting school records in the mens 400m and 3,000m indoors and the womens 400m hurdles outdoors, Garys inaugural team earned nine All-Southern Conference citations and placed two athletes on the Southern Conference All-Freshman Team.    Garys students also performed in the classroom, as Furman placed 10 runners and field participants on the Southern Conference Fall Academic All-Conference Team and 11 athletes on the winter team.  Both Paladin teams were honored as 2012 Division I All-Academic Cross Country Teams, and senior Emily Wirzba garnered Furmans Elizabeth Blackwell Academic Achievement Award, which is given annually to the senior female athlete with the highest GPA.   In his first year at the helm of the Paladin program, he introduced a Furman recruiting class among the top in the nation for both the mens and womens class. The mens class was highlighted by two-time Footlocker qualifier Josh Brickell of Peachtree, Ala. The womens class included Georgia State Champion and Gatorade Athlete of the Year Allie Buchaliski, and North Carolina State Champion Anna McBride.  As head coach for the professional training group, Furman Elite, Gary helped guide Cory Leslie to a new personal best and IAAF A standard in the 3000m Steeplechase of 8:20.31 as well as 3:34 for the 1500m, making Cory one of only five Americans with the IAAF A-standard in two different events. Cory will represent Team USA in the 2015 Pan-Am Championships. Gary became the only American to have coached three different American Steeplechasers to 8:20 or faster marks and four 1500m athletes to 3:35 or faster marks. After Leslie placed fourth at the 2014 USATF Championships, training partner Craig Forys had the fourth-fastest steeple in America running 8:24 in Lucerne, Switzerland. Additionally, Gary also guided huge PRs of 13:21 (5000m Olympic standard) for Jeff See and 3:37 for 1500m for Isaac Presson. On the womens side of Furman Elite, third-year member Heidi Gregson once again placed inside the top three in winning the 2015 Australian Championships at 1500m. She qualified for her second World Relays and first World Championship berth. Her training partner, Nicole Bush returned to the top of the American form chart once again when she ran 9:24 (fifthth fastest in US History a year after winning the 2013 USATF Steeplechase title and earning a trip to the 2013 World Track and Field Championships in Moscow, Russia. In 2014, Gary helped develop Stephanie Garcia into one of Americas best all-time steeplechasers. Garcia, who set the American 2000m Steeplechase record running 6:14 and went on to place thirrd at the USA National Championships in 2014. Eventually, Garcia went on to run 9:24 for the 3000m Steeplechase, placing her fourth on the all-time USA list. In 2015, Garcia achieved the Olympic A-standard at 1500m, 5000m, as well as placed second in the USATF steeplechase with a PR (9:23) to qualify for the 2015 World Championships. Prior to his time at Furman, Gary, a native of Chicago, Ill., spent six years as the head mens track and field coach at Ohio State and also served as the schools mens cross country coach for the past 16 years.  During his tenure with the Buckeyes, he guided his teams to six top-three finishes at Big Ten championship events, including runner-up performances at the 2009 cross country meet, plus the 2009 outdoor and 2010 indoor meets.  Under Garys tutelage, Ohio State garnered 17 individual titles and seven relay crowns. The Buckeyes reached the NCAA cross country championships during eight of Garys 16 years as head coach, finishing as high as 11th-place in 2005.  Garys teams produced numerous all-Big Ten honorees, two All-Great Lakes regional selections, and two All-Americans (Brian Olinger and Jeff See).  Most recently, his 2011 squad placed 23rd at the national meet. During the 2011 indoor season, Gary led the Buckeyes to a fourth-place finish in a very tight Big Ten conference meet, placing just nine points shy of first place, and produced the fourth-most NCAA Indoor Championship qualifiers.  His Ohio State team concluded the NCAA Indoor Championships with the fourth-most All-Americans, including two relay teams comprised entirely of student-athletes from the state of Ohio that set Buckeye records to qualify for the meet.  Gary also coached three sub-4 minute milers this indoors (Cory Leslie, Daniel Huling, and See). Before his time as head track and field coach at Ohio State, Gary served nine years as an assistant coach with the Buckeye team. Garys involvement with USA Track and Field has helped fashion his reputation as one of the nations elite coaches.  Garys past proteges include Olinger, who won the prestigious Manchester Road Race and turned in the top American finish and the third-best time ever at the Falmouth Road Race, and See, who became Garys fourth mile champion after winning the USATF indoor mile championship in 2011.  In 2010, he coached former Miami University track talent Huling, who won the 3000m steeplechase at the 2010 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.  Huling was one of several track and field stars, including Rob Myers (1500m), Olinger (steeplechase), and See (1500m), who trained under Gary in preparation for the 2008 Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore.  Myers, Huling, and Olinger advanced to the finals in their respective events at the trials. A two-time Olympian (1996 Atlanta Games and 2004 Athens Games) in the 3000m steeplechase, Gary concluded his own running career in 2005 after becoming one of only five Ohio State track and field athletes to earn bids to two separate U.S. Olympic teams.  He finished second in the steeplechase at the U.S. Olympic Trials in 1996, recording a career-beset time of 8:19.46, then posted a third-place finish at the 2004 Trials eight years later.  As a cross country athlete, Gary garnered 11 career appearances on the U.S. cross country team and was chosen Track and Field News Cross Country Runner of the Year in 2004. A 1996 graduate of Ohio State, Gary completed an illustrious career as a member of the Buckeye track and field program, earning six All-American citations and winning the Big Ten championship in the steeplechase in 1994.  His time of 7:52.63 in the 3,000m still stands as the Ohio State indoor record in the event.  A three-time All-Big Ten selection, he helped the Buckeyes to three league championships and was inducted into the Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2009.   Gary and his wife, the former Rita Arndt, who serves as an assistant coach in the Paladin track and field/cross country program, are parents of a son, Percy. 

Neal is in her third season on the Furman staff after spending the four years as a volunteer assistant coach with the women's track and field programs at Ohio State. She assists the Furman program with day-to-day operations, while pursuing her Physical Therapist Assistant License at Greenville Technical College.  Prior to her arrival at Ohio State, Neal served as the head cross country and track coach at Benjamin Franklin High in New Orleans, La., where she helped the men's and women's cross country programs to state championship appearances, leading the men to a top-10 team finish. On the track, she helped 18 individuals qualify for the state championships, eight during the indoor season and ten outdoors.  A 1994 graduate of Ball State, Neal is married to Furman cross country/track and field assistant coach Chris Neal.  The couple has a son, Merrick.

McCauley is in his fifth year as an assistant coach for the Furman cross country and track and field program.  He has been certified as a personal trainer by the American Council of Exercise and the American College of Sports Medicine and is a Level II USA Track and Field certified coach.  While serving as a faculty member in the Furman Institute of Running and Scientific Training (FIRST), McCauley also directs the cross country summer camp and is employed as a fitness specialist in the Furman fitness center.   A 1979 graduate of Furman, he was a member of the Paladin cross country and track and field teams from 1975-1978.  McCauley ran on the Paladins 2-mile relay team and the Furman DMR team that placed first at the 1976 SoCon Indoor Championships, then competed on the Furman 2-mile relay team that won the indoor conference championship in 1977.  He is a member of the 2-mile relay team that holds the Paladin indoor record at 7:44.00.

Neal is in his fifh season as as assistant coach with the Furman's head track and field/cross country program. Neal led the Paladin men's cross country team to its third-straight SoCon title in 2015.  The Furman men went on to finish fourth at the NCAA Southeast Regional, qualifying for the NCAA Championships, and Tanner Hinkle, Frank Lara, and Aaron Templeton garnered All-Region honors.  The Paladins claimed 13th place at the NCAA Championships, the highest finish by any Furman team at NCAAs during the 2015-16 athletic year.   At the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, Troy Reeder earned All-American accolades with a seventh-place finish in the 3,000m Steeplechase, becoming just the second All-American in the history of the Paladin track and field program.  Reeder set the Furman record of 8:36.51 in the event during the NCAA semifinals, clinching a spot in the finals. The 2014 cross country season was a record-breaking one for the Paladins, as the men took the top nine spots at the SoCon Cross Country Championship, winning their second conference title in as many years.  Two weeks later, the mens team finished second at the NCAA Southeast Regional Championship, earning a trip to the NCAA Championships.  Tripp Hurt, Aaron Templeton, Tanner Hinkle, and Troy Reeder were all named to the USTFCCCA All-Regional Team. On the track, the Paladins showed impressive growth during their time with Neal, claiming ten SoCon individual titles and setting 12 new school records during the 2014 and 2015 seasons. Most notable was Tripp Hurt, who qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in back-to-back seasons in the 3000m steeplechase. In his first season at Furman, his efforts were focused on guiding the mens program and working as the recruiting coordinator for the entire Furman cross country and track program.  Neal coached senior Wilkerson Given to All-Southeast Region honors at the NCAA Southeast Cross Country Regional, as Given posted the highest finish by any Furman mens runner in program history.  In the spring, Given went on to reach the NCAA East Regional Outdoor Championship in the 3,000m Steeplechase, an event he had just began competing in during the spring.  Neal also engineered a Furman recruiting class that ranked among the top in the nation for both the mens and womens programs.  Prior to his time at Furman, Neal, a native of Lafayette, Ind., spent four seasons as an assistant coach at Ohio State, focusing primarily on the distance events.  During his tenure, the Buckeyes qualified for the NCAA Cross Country Team Championship for the first time in school history (2009) then captured the programs first Big 10 indoor championship in 2011.  Ohio State also claimed back-to-back Big 10 Outdoor Championships in 2011 and 2012.  Neal coached four NCAA cross country championship individual qualifiers and had eight athletes post All-Region finishes under his tutelage.  As Coach Neal and I have worked together over the last few cross country seasons, it has been very exciting to watch him develop the womens distance program at Ohio State and help the team to its first NCAA Cross Country Championship berth, said Gary at the time of Neal's hiring.  Furmans staff and our resources will be focused toward the distance area, and we will count on his experience to help build a perennial national powerhouse. Additionally, Coach Neal will work closely with me with the post-collegiate group of runners that we will begin to put together and recruit, said Gary.  I strongly believe the post-collegiate component of Furman University track and field will serve as a great template for training and goal-setting at the very highest of levels. Prior to his time at Ohio State, Neal completed a four-year stint in New Orleans, first as an assistant coach at the University of New Orleans then as an assistant at Tulane.  While at Tulane from 2006-08, Neal guided the Green Wave to an eighth-place team finish at the 2007 NCAA Mideast Regional and a ninth-place finish at the 2007 South Central Regional Cross Country Championship, the first top-10 finish in the programs history.  During his time at New Orleans, he coached the Sun Belt Conference cross country individual champion, four track and field individual champions, and 10 all-conference performers. Neal spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Ball State in Muncie, Ind., before coaching in New Orleans.  At Ball State, he mentored an NCAA national cross country championship qualifier, an NCAA outdoor track and field championships qualifier, and seven individual Mid-American Conference Champions. I am extremely excited to be joining Coach Garys staff here at Furman, said Neal at the time of his hiring.  Furman has a great campus and an exceptional environment in which runners can develop.  It was an easy decision for my wife and me to come to Greenville after seeing the campus and meeting the athletic department staff.  We have a great track and field/cross country staff in place and will be looking to do something special over the next few years with the program. A 2003 graduate of Eastern Kentucky with a bachelors degree in physical education, Neal earned his masters degree in sports administration from Ball State in 2005.  As a cross country letterman at Eastern Kentucky, Neal helped the Colonels to the Ohio Valley Conference championship in 2004.  He is married to the former Carissa Westfall, of Monticello, Ind.  The couple are parents of a son, Merrick.

Gary led the Paladin women's cross country team to its third-straight SoCon title during the 2015 season.  Junior Allie Buchalski, who won the SoCon individual title for the second-straight year, placed fourth at the NCAA Southeast Regionals to qualify for the NCAA Championships as an individual.  She went on to become the first All-American in the history of the Paladin cross country program with a seventh-place finish at the NCAA Championships. Buchalski was chosen the SoCon Women's Track and Field Most Outstanding Athlete and Most Outstanding Performer at the league's indoor championships after winning titles in the mile, 3,000m, and 5,000m.   At the 2016 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, Buchalski finished 14th in the 5,000m to claim second team All-American honors.  She opened the outdoor season by setting a new Paladin record in the 5,000m then broke her own record at the NCAA East Preliminaries, notching the fastest qualifying time in the field.  Buchalski also exceled in the classroom in 2015-16, earning a spot on the Academic All-District Team. During the 2014 cross country season, Gary guided the Paladin women's team to unprecedented growth. The women handily defended their league title with a record-low 22 points at the conference championships then went on to finish sixth at the NCAA Southeast Regional Championships, the highest finish in Furman history.  Gary also coached sophomore Allie Buchalski to the NCAA Cross Country Championships. During the 2015 track season, the Furman distance women brought home seven SoCon track individual titles, set seven Furman school records, saw two individuals advance to the first round of the NCAA Championships, and provided Furman with its first NCAA Championship finalist (for both men and women) with Sinead Haugheys record-setting 10K performance. Finally, freshmen Jacquelyn Crow earned her start at the USA Jr. Championships, where she placed 10th in the 1500m amongst national competition. In her first year guiding the Lady Paladins, Gary closed out a season where every female distance runner under her tutelage set a personal best over the course of the year. Most notably, she helped guide sophomore Sinead Haughey to the league championship title in the 5,000m and 10,000m outdoors, marking only the fifth time in Furman womens track and field history that an athlete won two events at the same league outdoor championship meet and the first time since 1996, when Salima Fountain clinched first in both the 200m and 400m. For her efforts, Haughey became the Paladins first recipient of the SoCon Outstanding Female Track Performer Award.  The women's program made huge strides in both cross country and track and field in Gary's second year.  The women's team won the 2013 SoCon Cross Country Championships, marking the program's first title since 2006.  Rookies Allie Buchalski and Grace Tinkey, arguably the best 1-2 freshman punch in the country, represented Team USA at the Bupa Great Edinburgh XC International Challenge and North America, Central America, and Carribean XC Championship, respectively.  Gary also coached Haughey to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field East Regional in the 10,000m. As head womens track and field/cross country coach at Miami University from 2008-2009, Gary was named the 2008 Mid-American Conference Cross Country Coach of the Year after leading the RedHawks to the first conference title in program history.  Miami, which ranked as high as 35th nationally, finished sixth at the NCAA Cross Country Regional meet that fall. Gary spent four years coaching at Michigan State before accepting the post at Miami.  After serving as head womens cross country coach/assistant track and field coach for two years, she was promoted in June 2006 to associate head cross country coach for the mens and womens programs/assistant track and field coach.   During her time with the Spartans, Gary was named the Great Lakes Region Cross Country Coach of the Year in both 2006 and 2007.  Her 2007 team placed fifth at the NCAA Cross Country Championship, and her athletes garnered eight All-America, 23 NCAA Great Lakes All-Region, and 21 All-Big Ten citations during her tenure.  Seven of her athletes were also honored as Academic All-Americans. Prior to her time at Michigan State, Gary spent two years as an assistant coach at South Florida, where she coached the programs first cross country All-American.  She was part of the Bulls staff that was recognized as the 2003 Conference USA Coaching Staff of the Year.  A 2001 graduate of South Florida with a degree in mass communications, Gary spent two seasons as a undergraduate at Michigan State before transferring to South Florida.  A six-time NCAA qualifier, Gary set two South Florida school records and was honored as a three-time Academic All-American.  She led the Bulls to their first Conference USA cross country title and first NCAA Championship appearance. A native of Saline, Mich., she is married to Furman head track and field/cross country coach, Robert Gary.  The Garys are parents of a son, Percy. 

Leslie is in his fourth season as an assistant coach with the Furman track and field/cross country program. Following an illustrious collegiate career at Ohio State, where he earned first team All-American honors in both the Steeplechase and the Distance Medley Relay, Leslie competed in the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials in the 3,000m Steeplechase, finishing ninth in the finals after posting a personal record of 8:31.08 in the prelims.  A five-time All-Big Ten Selection, he owns four Ohio State records (800m, 1000m, mile and DMR). Leslie, a native of Ohio, graduated from Ohio State in 2012 with a bachelors degree in education, majoring in sport and leisure studies with a concentration in leadership and humanities. He was a four-time Ohio State Scholar Athlete and an Academic All-Big Ten selection.  He will also continue his professional career with the Furman Elite running club under the direction of Gary.

Balyo enters his fourth year on the Furman staff as the programs Director of Operations and assistant coach. He serves as the meet director for all home events, including the Furman Cross Country Classic and the Gene Mullin Invitational, and has oversight of the Paladins middle distance athletes. Balyo helped assist the Paladin men's and women's cross country teams to three consecutive SoCon titles in 2013, 2014, and 2015. In 2015, the Furman men went on to finish fourth at the NCAA Southeast Regional, qualifying for the NCAA Championships, and Tanner Hinkle, Frank Lara, and Aaron Templeton garnered All-Region honors. The Paladins claimed 13th place at the NCAA Championships, the highest finish by any Furman team at NCAAs during the 2015-16 athletic year. Junior Allie Buchalski, who won the SoCon individual title for the second-straight year, placed fourth at the NCAA Southeast Regionals to qualify for the NCAA Championships as an individual.  She went on to become the first All-American in the history of the Paladin cross country program with a seventh-place finish at the NCAA Championships. Working with the Paladin middle distance athletes during track season, Balyo guided freshman Ryan Adams to an 800m indoor school record of 1:50.77 at the 2016 Vanderbilt Music City Challenge. At the Furman Elite 1500, Adams ran a personal-best and school record time of 3:42.25 for 1500m. This time converts to a sub-four minute mile and was the third-fastest 1500m time posted by a freshman in 2016. Balyo competed under Paladin head coach Robert Gary at Ohio State University from 2006-2011, where he was honored as a four-time scholar athlete and Academic All-Big Ten Selection. He led the Buckeyes in multiple events in both cross country and track throughout his collegiate career, including scoring at the Big Ten Championships in the 1500m, 3000m, 3000m steeplechase, and 5000m distances. Balyo qualified for two NCAA 1st round championships on the track. He ended his collegiate career with personal bests of 4:03.47 (mile), 8:06.81 (3000m), 8:53.42 (3000m Steeplechase), and 14:16.35 (5000m).  A native of Springboro, Ohio, Balyo was a two-time Ohio High School Athletic Association State Champion in cross country and the 3,200m. He earned All-American honors with a two-mile time of 8:52.76 at the Nike Outdoor Nationals. In 2012, he was inducted into the Springboro High School Athletic Hall of Fame. Balyo earned degrees in international business and marketing from Ohio State in 2011. Immediately following his gradation, he spent two years as a District Manager for Nestle USA in Columbus, Ohio.  Chads position allows us to have a full compliment of NCAA allowable coaches for the kind of individual attention I feel is necessary for our student-athletes to realize their potential within, said Gary.  His background in administration, as well as intimate knowledge of the sport, plays a vital role in making Furman a community driven, national and international destination for distance running.