That was the question racing through the minds of Paransky and teammate Alfi Guindi after they crossed the finish line together. With no cameras to record the finish, and no electronic scoring mechanism to help declare a winner, the two runners finished the 8,000-meter race without knowing which of them was the champion. Emory Assistant Coach Scott Murphy was also unsure. They were tied, time wise. I've never seen that before.
Ties are exceptionally rare in cross country, which is a sport ill-equipped for such events.
The rules of cross country require that a winner be declared, even when there is no apparent victor. I never won a race in high school. There was one guy on our team who was All-State, and another who was right with me. When I told them later that I won in my first race, they got a good laugh out of it. Guindi has taken a lot of ribbing from teammates about losing to a rookie.