Lehigh’s Men Ready for Annual Paul Short Run

Friday, September 29

Bethlehem, Pa.

9:30 a.m.

Lehigh University

Paul Short Run

Photo by: Don Paul

Lehigh’s Men Ready for Annual Paul Short Run

9/28/2017 1:37:00 PM | Men's Cross Country

Full Paul Short Meet Preview | Live Results | Meet Schedule | 2017 Lehigh Results Sheet | Goodman Campus Course

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh men's cross country team will return to the Goodman Campus for the third time this season on Friday morning to host the 44th annual Paul Short Run, presented by Asics. Lehigh will compete in the top-tiered Gold Race beginning at 11 a.m.

Lehigh is scheduled to be one of 41 teams competing in the Gold Race, which includes nationally-ranked Iona (10), Georgetown (17) and Columbia (28). The Mountain Hawks, who moved up to No. 11 in this week's USTFCCCA Mid-Atlantic Regional rankings, will be joined by seven other squads ranked in the region, including top seeded Georgetown and No. 2 Navy. Two Division II teams ranked in the top five in the nation will also be competing against Lehigh in the Gold Race, including No. 1 Adams State and No. 5 Mount Olive. For a full Paul Short meet preview including a full breakdown of all the teams slated to compete and a schedule of events, click here.

The Mountain Hawks are coming off a solid showing at last week's Coast-to-Coast Battle in Beantown, where they finished eighth out of 18 schools in a highly competitive meet that featured three nationally ranked teams and seven teams ranked regionally in the northeast. Lehigh has had very good success on its home course so far this season, narrowly taking second place out of eight teams at the season-opening Lehigh Invitational and topping Lafayette 16-47 in the school's annual dual meet.

Senior Patrick Reilly has been the team's frontrunner in all three of his meets so far this season, with sophomore Jeffrey Kirshenbaum having finished second on the squad in all three of his meets as well. Senior Ryan Grace and sophomore Matt Kravitz have also scored in the team's top seven in each of their meets this season. Freshman Brad DeMassa is coming off a performance at last week's Battle in Beantown that earned him Patriot League Rookie of the week honors.

Paul Short will be Lehigh's third meet on its home course this season, with two more still to come in the Patriot League Championships on Oct. 28 and the NCAA Regionals on Nov. 10.

"There's definitely advantages to knowing exactly every step of the course," Lehigh head coach Todd Etters said. "There are some disadvantages though; you can get in a rut, so we're trying to be care full of that. But, more than just being on a course, it's the level of competitions we have on our course, and that's probably what excites us the most."

Check back to Lehighsports.com after the meet for a full recap, video highlights and interviews.

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