The top-ranked prep runner in North Carolina and the No. 25 athlete on MileSplit's Flo50 national cross country rankings has decided to join one of the nation's up-and-coming distance programs.
Winston-Salem Mount Tabor (NC) High senior Cameron Ponder pledged his commitment to Division I Furman University on Monday on Twitter.
He'll join a Paladins squad that has begun to dominate the Southern Conference and produced just its second All-American in school history at the NCAA outdoor track and field championships in 2017. Furman is coached by two-time Olympian Robert Gray.
Ponder, a second-place finisher at last year's state cross country championships, is a distinguished talent whose cross country season in North Carolina has steadily shot upward since September when he finished seventh at the adidas XC challenge in 15:31.40 and first at the Wendy's Invitational on October 7 in 15:20.54.
Ponder was second overall in the Eastern States race at the Manhattan Invitational on October 14, finishing in 12:20.3 for the 4K course.
Ponder will be looking for his first state championship in Class 4A on November 4 at the Ivey Redmon Sports Complex in Kernersville.
On the track, Ponder holds PBs of 1:57.50 in the 800m, 4:11.46 in the full mile and 8:56.49 in the 3200m.
Ponder was part of the national-caliber field at the Arcadia Invitational last April in the 3200m and also was third at the Penn Relays Carnival in the 1600m just weeks later.
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