Mountain Hawks Compete at 42nd Annual Paul Short Run
10/2/2015 8:25:00 PM | Cross Country
View Complete Paul Short Results View Men's Highlight Video View Women's Highlight Video
MEN
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Lehigh men's cross country team used a strong team effort to finish ninth out of 27 teams in the 42nd annual Paul Short Run on Friday. Sophomore Patrick Reilly was the first Mountain Hawk to cross the finish line in the 8K Gold race, posting a 24th place time of 24:36. Reilly was one of four Lehigh runners who finished in the top 81, and every Mountain Hawk finished 130th or better in the field of more than 278 runners. This marks the third time in the last four years Lehigh has finished ninth at Paul Short, tying their highest finish since an eighth place performance in 1999.
"I thought we ran well," said head coach Todd Etters. "We were hoping for a top 10 finish. It looks like Pat Reilly is emerging as a bit of a frontrunner for us. We had a nice strong pack. To finish ninth today, we're pretty happy with the result."
Lehigh finished ahead of Patriot League foes American and Holy Cross, as well several quality programs, including UMBC, ranked seventh in the Mid-Atlantic Regional rankings.
"The game plan was definitely to stick together," said Etters. "The rain and the mud will slow you down a little bit, so you definitely want to make sure you have your teammates with you. They did a good job of staying together, really running the whole course and not taking little mental lapses here and there. They were really focused the entire way."
Reilly's finish was followed by senior Evan Hardy in 60th (25:03), senior Evan Ward in 67th (25:11), junior Ryan Cooney in 81st (25:16), sophomore Kyle Kirk in 108th (25:30), sophomore Scott Mason in 119th (25:38) and sophomore Joseph Inglis in 130th (25:44).
Georgetown won the 8K Gold team title, while Patrick Tiernan of Villanova was the individual champion.
Several other Mountain Hawks competed in the open race, led by freshman Mitchell Daddario who placed 37th (26:12). Sophomore Henry Paul placed 86th (26:49) and sophomore David Mugavero came in 123rd (27:09).
"We now need to get our pack tighter to where Pat is," said Etters. "We want to close that gap. We want to see no more than a 20-second, one to five spread. That's really what we're going to focus on in the next couple weeks."
WOMEN
Led by sophomore Laura Barnes, the Lehigh women's cross country team finished Friday's 42nd annual Paul Short Run presented by Asics and Schuylkill Valley Sports in 31st place. Barnes came in 91st out of more than 300 runners in the morning's 6K Gold race as Lehigh's runners averaged a time of 22:36 in the Gold race on the rain soaked course.
"I think Laura Barnes did a tremendous job of really taking it out from the gun, putting herself in contention and having a huge PR as a frontrunner today over the course," said head coach Debbie Utesch. "She did a nice job of setting the tone. After that, we lost our pack. We've been trying to keep a 30-second split, one to five, but we fell off to over a minute today. That showed up in our team performance, which really put us nowhere in the field today."
Behind Barnes and her time of 21:56 was senior Shannon Wright, who placed 170th with a time of 22:36.
Behind Wright was junior Amanda Ruschel in 175th (22:38) while junior Ashley Strysko (211th/22:52) and senior Arielle Weiner (213nd/22:58) finished back-to-back. Freshman Stephanie Hayes placed 233rd (23:09) and sophomore Hannah Leskow came in 268th (23:35).
The University of Guelph won the Women's 6K Gold crown while Blanca Fernandez of Temple was the individual champion.
Several other Mountain Hawks competed in the open race, led by sophomore Sarah Spring who placed 58th with a time of 23:20. Junior Anne Birkenmaier came in 146th (24:43), sophomore Samantha Lerner placed 152nd (24:50) and sophomore Jennifer Burke rounded out thee field of Lehigh runners in 161st (24:59).
"Right now, when you look at the results, we're sitting in a tough place in the Patriot League," said Utesch. "We have a lot of work to do to get packed up. Even though individually, our girls have run fairly fast, everybody else is running faster. That won't get it done at the Patriot League Championships."
Both programs will return to action in two weeks when they visit New Jersrey for the Princeton for the Princeton Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 17.
MEN
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Lehigh men's cross country team used a strong team effort to finish ninth out of 27 teams in the 42nd annual Paul Short Run on Friday. Sophomore Patrick Reilly was the first Mountain Hawk to cross the finish line in the 8K Gold race, posting a 24th place time of 24:36. Reilly was one of four Lehigh runners who finished in the top 81, and every Mountain Hawk finished 130th or better in the field of more than 278 runners. This marks the third time in the last four years Lehigh has finished ninth at Paul Short, tying their highest finish since an eighth place performance in 1999.
"I thought we ran well," said head coach Todd Etters. "We were hoping for a top 10 finish. It looks like Pat Reilly is emerging as a bit of a frontrunner for us. We had a nice strong pack. To finish ninth today, we're pretty happy with the result."
Lehigh finished ahead of Patriot League foes American and Holy Cross, as well several quality programs, including UMBC, ranked seventh in the Mid-Atlantic Regional rankings.
"The game plan was definitely to stick together," said Etters. "The rain and the mud will slow you down a little bit, so you definitely want to make sure you have your teammates with you. They did a good job of staying together, really running the whole course and not taking little mental lapses here and there. They were really focused the entire way."
Reilly's finish was followed by senior Evan Hardy in 60th (25:03), senior Evan Ward in 67th (25:11), junior Ryan Cooney in 81st (25:16), sophomore Kyle Kirk in 108th (25:30), sophomore Scott Mason in 119th (25:38) and sophomore Joseph Inglis in 130th (25:44).
Georgetown won the 8K Gold team title, while Patrick Tiernan of Villanova was the individual champion.
Several other Mountain Hawks competed in the open race, led by freshman Mitchell Daddario who placed 37th (26:12). Sophomore Henry Paul placed 86th (26:49) and sophomore David Mugavero came in 123rd (27:09).
"We now need to get our pack tighter to where Pat is," said Etters. "We want to close that gap. We want to see no more than a 20-second, one to five spread. That's really what we're going to focus on in the next couple weeks."
WOMEN
Led by sophomore Laura Barnes, the Lehigh women's cross country team finished Friday's 42nd annual Paul Short Run presented by Asics and Schuylkill Valley Sports in 31st place. Barnes came in 91st out of more than 300 runners in the morning's 6K Gold race as Lehigh's runners averaged a time of 22:36 in the Gold race on the rain soaked course.
"I think Laura Barnes did a tremendous job of really taking it out from the gun, putting herself in contention and having a huge PR as a frontrunner today over the course," said head coach Debbie Utesch. "She did a nice job of setting the tone. After that, we lost our pack. We've been trying to keep a 30-second split, one to five, but we fell off to over a minute today. That showed up in our team performance, which really put us nowhere in the field today."
Behind Barnes and her time of 21:56 was senior Shannon Wright, who placed 170th with a time of 22:36.
Behind Wright was junior Amanda Ruschel in 175th (22:38) while junior Ashley Strysko (211th/22:52) and senior Arielle Weiner (213nd/22:58) finished back-to-back. Freshman Stephanie Hayes placed 233rd (23:09) and sophomore Hannah Leskow came in 268th (23:35).
The University of Guelph won the Women's 6K Gold crown while Blanca Fernandez of Temple was the individual champion.
Several other Mountain Hawks competed in the open race, led by sophomore Sarah Spring who placed 58th with a time of 23:20. Junior Anne Birkenmaier came in 146th (24:43), sophomore Samantha Lerner placed 152nd (24:50) and sophomore Jennifer Burke rounded out thee field of Lehigh runners in 161st (24:59).
"Right now, when you look at the results, we're sitting in a tough place in the Patriot League," said Utesch. "We have a lot of work to do to get packed up. Even though individually, our girls have run fairly fast, everybody else is running faster. That won't get it done at the Patriot League Championships."
Both programs will return to action in two weeks when they visit New Jersrey for the Princeton for the Princeton Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 17.
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