Saturday, September 18
Easton, PA
10:15 a.m.
Lehigh University
at
Lehigh-Lafayette Dual
Photo by: Don Paul
Men’s Cross Country Set for 47th Annual Lehigh Paul Short Run
9/30/2021 10:38:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Excited and anxious to compete after beating rival Lafayette two weeks ago, the Lehigh men's cross country team returns to the course on Friday for a big one, the 47th Annual Lehigh Paul Short Run presented by Asics. Friday will mark the return of what many consider the top cross country meet in the country, following a one-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Paul Short Run, which dates back to 1975, annually features several hundred teams and thousands of student-athletes, both collegiate and high school. It's something the current Mountain Hawks are anxious to experience, for some again, but many, for the first time.
"[The student-athletes] showing up on Thursday to pre-meet and Friday to race, it makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up," said Lehigh head coach Todd Etters. "They see what our course is like day in and day out. It's a great course, but it's an even greater venue when you have so many fans and so many great teams running around."
Friday is not just any opportunity to compete. It's an opportunity to compete against some of the region's and nation's best.
"Just looking at where all the teams stack up, we want to get in there and mix it up with some of the better teams," said Etters. "We have some nationally ranked teams coming in, but this is also our first chance to race more heavily other Patriot League schools and some of the regional schools. We're looking forward to mixing it up with them. We're looking forward to seeing where we stack up now with them."
The Mountain Hawks already had the chance to compete at Lafayette two weeks ago (a 23-32 Lehigh win). Junior Connor Melko was the first Lehigh runner to finish for a second straight meet, finishing the 8K first with a time of 25:24.34.
Lafayette will compete in Friday's Gold race, along with five other schools – American, Army West Point, Boston University, Bucknell and Navy – giving Lehigh a great opportunity to see how it stacks up for the league championships on Oct. 31 (also on the Goodman Campus Course).
"Our training has gone well," said Etters. "We recovered from the last race and I think we'll be ready to run even faster this weekend. Definitely the state is excitement, but we're still controlled because we have a month until the Patriot League Championship. We're not trying to be at that level just yet, but we are trying to build off of where we were two weeks ago for sure."
The Mountain Hawks will have runners in the open race (at 9:30 a.m.) and Gold race (at 11 a.m.). Two years ago, the Mountain Hawks finished 24th out of 45 teams in the Gold race, placing 17th (of 41) in 2018 and 20th (of 40) in 2017. Lehigh recently finished as high as ninth in consecutive years (2014 and 2015).
"When we compete, we always want to be at our best," said Etters. "I'd equate [the Paul Short Run] to a football player running out of the tunnel and you have 100,000 fans cheering. They get that level of excitement.
"Our team has shown that we're very mentally tough," Etters continued. "We like competition. We really like when teams challenge us and push us to our limits and I think we'll get a taste of that this weekend."
The Paul Short Run, which dates back to 1975, annually features several hundred teams and thousands of student-athletes, both collegiate and high school. It's something the current Mountain Hawks are anxious to experience, for some again, but many, for the first time.
"[The student-athletes] showing up on Thursday to pre-meet and Friday to race, it makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up," said Lehigh head coach Todd Etters. "They see what our course is like day in and day out. It's a great course, but it's an even greater venue when you have so many fans and so many great teams running around."
Friday is not just any opportunity to compete. It's an opportunity to compete against some of the region's and nation's best.
"Just looking at where all the teams stack up, we want to get in there and mix it up with some of the better teams," said Etters. "We have some nationally ranked teams coming in, but this is also our first chance to race more heavily other Patriot League schools and some of the regional schools. We're looking forward to mixing it up with them. We're looking forward to seeing where we stack up now with them."
The Mountain Hawks already had the chance to compete at Lafayette two weeks ago (a 23-32 Lehigh win). Junior Connor Melko was the first Lehigh runner to finish for a second straight meet, finishing the 8K first with a time of 25:24.34.
Lafayette will compete in Friday's Gold race, along with five other schools – American, Army West Point, Boston University, Bucknell and Navy – giving Lehigh a great opportunity to see how it stacks up for the league championships on Oct. 31 (also on the Goodman Campus Course).
"Our training has gone well," said Etters. "We recovered from the last race and I think we'll be ready to run even faster this weekend. Definitely the state is excitement, but we're still controlled because we have a month until the Patriot League Championship. We're not trying to be at that level just yet, but we are trying to build off of where we were two weeks ago for sure."
The Mountain Hawks will have runners in the open race (at 9:30 a.m.) and Gold race (at 11 a.m.). Two years ago, the Mountain Hawks finished 24th out of 45 teams in the Gold race, placing 17th (of 41) in 2018 and 20th (of 40) in 2017. Lehigh recently finished as high as ninth in consecutive years (2014 and 2015).
"When we compete, we always want to be at our best," said Etters. "I'd equate [the Paul Short Run] to a football player running out of the tunnel and you have 100,000 fans cheering. They get that level of excitement.
"Our team has shown that we're very mentally tough," Etters continued. "We like competition. We really like when teams challenge us and push us to our limits and I think we'll get a taste of that this weekend."
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Cross Country
2025 Lehigh Men's Cross Country Season Preview
Thursday, August 28
Lehigh Sports Central: Men's Cross Country
Wednesday, October 02
2024 Men's Cross Country season preview
Thursday, August 29
Lehigh Sports Central: Men's Cross Country
Wednesday, October 04
