Men's Cross Country Prepares for 41st Annual Paul Short Run, Presented by Asics

Saturday, October 4

10:00 a.m.

Lehigh University

Lehigh Paul Short Run

Men's Cross Country Prepares for 41st Annual Paul Short Run, Presented by Asics

10/2/2014 1:27:00 PM | Men's Cross Country

Results | Watch Live | Twitter

BETHLEHEM, Pa – The Lehigh men's cross country teams prepare to host the 41st annual Paul Short Run, presented by Asics and Schuylkill Valley Sports this Saturday. The Paul Short Run is one of the largest cross country meets in the nation with more than 5,500 runners from over 400 teams competing at the all-day event. The day will kick off at 10 a.m. with the women's open race and end at 5:45 p.m. with the girl's high school JV race.

Last year the Lehigh men's cross country team placed 24th of 47 teams, highlighted by an outstanding performance from then senior captain Tyler Mueller. Mueller finished in sixth place with a time of 23:58 in the Men's Gold 8k. His finish was the highest of any individual Lehigh runner since 1976 when a Mountain Hawk placed fourth.

"The opportunity is there for us to race against a lot of national class teams," said head coach Todd Etters. "We're mostly looking forward to competing against other Patriot League schools and seeing where we stack up against them."

Senior Ryan Mahalsky finished 50th at last year's Paul Short Run as Lehigh's second best finisher with a time of 24:49. This year, Mahalsky has taken the individual title in both races he competed in and earned Patriot League Runner of the Week honors for outrunning a field of nationally and regionally ranked competitors at the Main Line Invitational on September 25.

"Ryan at the end should be on the awards stand," said Etters. " We're looking for him to break into number two or three on the all-time list and to bang heads with the top guys. I expect him to be in a position where he's going to be in the top ten."

Other Mountain Hawks to look out for at the Paul Short Run include seniors Nick Ward, and Simon Voorhees who have lead the team with top performances, in addition to top performances from freshmen John Tolbert, Patrick Reilly, and Scott Mason who have each earned Patriot League Rookie of the Week honors.

The Lehigh men's cross country team enters the Paul Short Run ranking sixth in the Mid-Atlantic region.

Complete results will be posted on the Paul Short website at LehighSports.com/PaulShort at the conclusion of each race.

All races will be broadcast live via FloTrack and can be viewed here. Fans, parents and student-athletes are also encouraged to follow @LehighPaulShort on Twitter for important race-day updates and results.

Results: Team and individual results will be updated at LehighSports.com/PaulShort throughout the day. Results will be updated as quickly as possible following the conclusion of each race. At the conclusion of the event, Lehighsports.com will provide a full recap of the day's races. Results will not be sent to individual schools due to the number of competeing teams.

Admission: Admission for the 41st Annual Lehigh Paul Short Run is free and parking will be $5 per car. Comprehensive programs, featuring meet information and a list of all participants, will be sold on site for $3. Concessions will be available throughout the day. For the safety of all fans and student-athletes, smoking and the consumption of alcoholic beverages will not be permitted near the race area.

41st Annual Paul Short Run, presented by Asics and Schuylkill Valley Sports
Bethlehem, Pa.
Goodman Campus Course
October 4, 2014

Race Schedule
10 a.m. Open Races on a staggered start
10 a.m. Open Women's 6K Race
10:10 a.m. Open Men's 8K Race
11 a.m. Men's College Gold 8K Race
11:45 a.m. Women's College Gold 6K Race
12:15 p.m. Men's College Brown 8K Race
1 p.m. Women's College Brown 6K Race
1:45 p.m. Men's College White 8K Race
2:30 p.m. Women's College White 6K Race
3:15 p.m. Boy's HS Brown 5K Race
3:45 p.m. Girl's HS Brown 5K Race
4:15 p.m. Boy's HS White 5K Race
4:45 p.m. Girl's HS White 5K Race
5:15 p.m. Boy's HS JV 5K Race
5:45 p.m. Girl's HS JV 5K Race

Award Ceremonies (all will take place inside Football Stadium)
12:45 p.m. College Gold Division
2 p.m. College Brown Division
3:30 p.m. College White Division
6:15 p.m. High School Brown & White Divisions

The 2014 Field
The 41^st annual Paul Short Run will host three top 25 nationally-ranked Division I men's teams, and three top 25 nationally-ranked Division I women's teams. The races will also include five nationally-ranked Division II men's teams, two nationally-ranked Division II women's teams, four nationally-ranked Division III men's teams and seven nationally-ranked Division III women's teams.

The men's races will feature no.9 Villanova, no. 13 Iona, and no. 20 Princeton, as well as 11 of the top 15 Mid-Atlantic Region teams, including no. 6 Lehigh.

The women's races will feature no. 5 Georgetown, no. 6 Florida State and no. 13 Villanova, as well as 9 of the 15 Mid-Atlantic Region teams, including no. 10 Lehigh.

2013 Recap: Indiana and Georgetown claim titles in 2013 Paul Short Run

The 40th Annual Paul Short Run, presented by Asics, saw more than 6,000 runners from over 450 teams convene upon Lehigh University's Goodman Campus Cross Country Course to participate in one of the nation's premier cross country events.

The 18th-ranked Indiana Hoosiers took the crown in the men's college Gold 8K with an overall team score of 89 points and three top-20 finishers. Dartmouth (106) placed second, edging out 19th-ranked Georgetown (110) by four points. Harvard (167) and Iowa State (188) rounded out the top five. Senior James Leakos of Harvard took home this individual title with a time of 23:13.

The women's college Gold 6K title was taken home by sixth-ranked Georgetown as the Hoyas finished with 112 points and had three runners within the top 15. Dartmouth (125) upset 11th-ranked Villanova (168) to claim second place while Cornell (182) and Columbia (203) rounded out the top five. Dartmouth senior Abbey D'Agostino claimed her second-straight individual title with a time of 19:44.

Princeton claimed the men's college Brown 8K title with 94 team points and three runners within the top 15. Albany (133) and Monmouth (158) finished second and third, respectively, while Canisius (170) and St. Lawrence (215) rounded out the top five. Monmouth junior Khari Brown claimed the individual crown and finished 11 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher.

The women's college Brown 6K was won by Holy Cross with 176 points. Shippensburg was close behind in second place with 184 team points. Haverford (225), Dickinson (252) and Maryland (256) capped off the top five. Mansfield senior Jessica Scordino took home the individual title with a clip of 21:13.

The men's college White 8K team title was taken home by Muhlenberg (131). Juniata was a close second with 141 team points, while Franklin and Marshall (188), Penn State Behrend (227) and Salisbury (260) also made up the top five. Senior Brett Kubiak of Gwynedd Mercy College earned the individual title with a time of 25:35.

The women's White 8K and all high school races were not able to be completed in 2013 due to uncontrollable weather conditions and excessive heat that halted the Paul Short Run.

Paul Short Biography
Born in Hurt, Virginia in 1910, Paul E. Short enrolled at Lehigh University in 1930 and earned three varsity letters in football as the team's starting quarterback. Paul was an exceptional athlete and participated in both lacrosse and wrestling before graduating in 1934 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. After a career at Bethlehem Steel, Short joined the Lehigh Athletic Staff in 1938 and went on to combine duties as an assistant coach in football, baseball, wrestling and lacrosse, and served as Business Manager and Assistant Director of Athletics. His services were interrupted during World War II, at which time he served with distinction as a Major in the United States Army. An avid supporter of Lehigh cross country and track, Short served the Lehigh community from 1946 until his death in 1967.

Past Champions
Men
Army: 1986
Ath. Attic: 1977
Brown: 1987
Georgetown: 2003, 2004, 2005
Indiana: 2009, 2013
Iona: 1995
James Madison: 1999
Kansas: 1990
Lehigh: 1969
Michigan: 1998
Michigan State: 1997, 1998, 2000
Navy: 1982, 1984
Oklahoma: 2011
Penn State: 1979, 1980, 1981, 1994, 2001
Providence: 1992
Villanova: 1975, 1976, 1978, 1991, 1993, 1996, 2006, 2007, 2012
Virginia: 2010
West Virginia: 1985, 1988
William and Mary: 2002
Wisconsin: 1983, 2008
Yale: 1989

Women
Air Force: 1988
Columbia: 2005
Cornell: 1998, 2012
Georgetown: 1989, 1990, 1999, 2003, 2010, 2013
North Carolina State: 1997
Oregon: 1983
Penn State: 1981, 1982, 1986, 1996, 2001, 2002
Princeton: 2006, 2007
Providence: 1994, 1995, 2011
Tennessee: 2004
Toronto: 1985
Villanova: 1984, 1987, 1991, 1992, 1993, 2000
West Virginia: 2008, 2009

Meet Notes

The 2014 Paul Short Race will include 5,630 runners from 409 college and high school teams, as well as unattached runners. There will be 3,309 collegiate runners from the 242 teams, 2,174 high school runners from the 167 teams, and 147 unattached runners.
The ChampionChip System will assist in keeping track of times. Each runner will have a computer chip on his/her shoe that will transmit an identification number and the runner's time to the finish-line computers.
Liberty's Sam Chelanga owns the fastest time in Paul Short men's history with a 23:05 clip in the 2008 8K race. Eight of the 10 top times in the men's race have been set in the past five years.
Marie-Louise Asselin of West Virginia holds the fastest women's time in meet history at 19:38, set in the 2008 6K race. All of the top 10 times in the women's race have been set in the past eight years.
Doug Smith of Gill St. Bernards High School owns the record boys' high school time for the Paul Short 5K at 15:10, set in 2007. The fastest 5K time ever recorded on the Goodman Course by a high school runner was set in 2006 by Unionville's Paul Springer at 14:47.
Warwick Valley High School's Aislinn Ryan holds the fastest girls' 5K time in meet history at 17:03, set in 2005. The mark is also the fastest 5K time ever recorded on the Goodman Course by a high school girls' runner.
Georgetown, Michigan State, Penn State and Villanova are the only men's teams to win consecutive Paul Short championships.
Georgetown, Penn State, Princeton, Providence, Villanova and West Virginia are the only women's teams to win consecutive Paul Short championships.
Georgetown, Penn State, Providence, Villanova and West Virginia are the only teams to have won both the Paul Short men's and women's championship.
Three teams have won both the men's and women's race in the same year. Penn State swept the competition in 1981 and accomplished the feat again in 2001. Villanova won both races in 1991 and 1993, while Georgetown secured both top spots in 2003.