Friday, October 1
Bethlehem, Pa.
10:15 a.m.
Lehigh University
vs
Paul Short Run
Photo by: Don Paul
Women’s Cross Country Anxious to Experience 47th Annual Paul Short Run
9/30/2021 10:42:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The upperclassmen on the Lehigh women's cross country team are telling the underclassmen what to expect at the 47th Annual Paul Short Run presented by Asics, which many say is one of the biggest, most prestigious cross country meet in the country. Half of the Mountain Hawks' roster hasn't experienced it, as it wasn't held last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For both experienced returnees and newcomers, this Friday has been a date circled on their collective calendars.
"Our underclassmen are listening to the upperclassmen telling them stories about over 400 runners on the starting line with them, and how you could literally see 12 people cross the finish line within three seconds," said Lehigh head coach Debbie Utesch.
The Paul Short is truly a national meet with many national and regionally-ranked teams participating.
"We're able to host teams from all over the country – Northern Arizona, Utah State, North Carolina, Bowling Green, etc.," said Utesch. "There are teams not coming just from this general East Coast Mid-Atlantic region, but from all over the nation to compete on the Goodman Campus Course.
"There's a huge level of excitement," Utesch continued. "It's something our upperclassmen really look forward to because they know what it is and what it means, but our underclassmen are probably a little bit skeptical [until they experience it]. We keep telling them to trust the upperclassmen, to enjoy the experience and just be ready for some great results."
The Mountain Hawks will have runners in both the Open and Gold races, at 10:15 and 11:45 a.m., respectively on the Goodman Campus Cross Country Course – a place the Lehigh student-athletes are very familiar with.
"One of the unique things about this season is we are racing on our home course so many times," said Utesch. "We opened with our first meet of the year at home, we're into this high-caliber meet midseason with the Paul Short Run at home, then at the end of the season with both the Patriot League and NCAA Championships at home."
All these meets are giving the Mountain Hawks an opportunity to compare the progress of their training.
"A lot of the women are going into this weekend expecting to see significant personal drops in time from what they did in the Lehigh Invitational at the beginning of September, and how that can project out to the more head-to-head racing they'll be doing at the end of the season and the Patriot League Championships on the same course," said Utesch.
Last time out, the Mountain Hawks defeated rival Lafayette on their rival's course by a 21-40 score. Junior Madison Zaun finished first, posting a time of 22:33.96. This Friday, Lehigh will race 39 other teams in the Gold 6K Race, including six from the Patriot League – American, Army West Point, Boston University, Bucknell, Lafayette and Navy.
"There's a lot of excitement amongst the women as to what we're really capable of," said Utesch. "We've had some tremendous training opportunities. We put together a couple really good team-effort races and I think our frontrunners are gaining confidence.
"Our depth is really good and they continue to grasp onto each other midrace, so this will be a good challenge for them to be in this large of a field to see if they can hang onto each other midrace, and for those frontrunners to really get challenged to see how front of a runner they are."
"Our underclassmen are listening to the upperclassmen telling them stories about over 400 runners on the starting line with them, and how you could literally see 12 people cross the finish line within three seconds," said Lehigh head coach Debbie Utesch.
The Paul Short is truly a national meet with many national and regionally-ranked teams participating.
"We're able to host teams from all over the country – Northern Arizona, Utah State, North Carolina, Bowling Green, etc.," said Utesch. "There are teams not coming just from this general East Coast Mid-Atlantic region, but from all over the nation to compete on the Goodman Campus Course.
"There's a huge level of excitement," Utesch continued. "It's something our upperclassmen really look forward to because they know what it is and what it means, but our underclassmen are probably a little bit skeptical [until they experience it]. We keep telling them to trust the upperclassmen, to enjoy the experience and just be ready for some great results."
The Mountain Hawks will have runners in both the Open and Gold races, at 10:15 and 11:45 a.m., respectively on the Goodman Campus Cross Country Course – a place the Lehigh student-athletes are very familiar with.
"One of the unique things about this season is we are racing on our home course so many times," said Utesch. "We opened with our first meet of the year at home, we're into this high-caliber meet midseason with the Paul Short Run at home, then at the end of the season with both the Patriot League and NCAA Championships at home."
All these meets are giving the Mountain Hawks an opportunity to compare the progress of their training.
"A lot of the women are going into this weekend expecting to see significant personal drops in time from what they did in the Lehigh Invitational at the beginning of September, and how that can project out to the more head-to-head racing they'll be doing at the end of the season and the Patriot League Championships on the same course," said Utesch.
Last time out, the Mountain Hawks defeated rival Lafayette on their rival's course by a 21-40 score. Junior Madison Zaun finished first, posting a time of 22:33.96. This Friday, Lehigh will race 39 other teams in the Gold 6K Race, including six from the Patriot League – American, Army West Point, Boston University, Bucknell, Lafayette and Navy.
"There's a lot of excitement amongst the women as to what we're really capable of," said Utesch. "We've had some tremendous training opportunities. We put together a couple really good team-effort races and I think our frontrunners are gaining confidence.
"Our depth is really good and they continue to grasp onto each other midrace, so this will be a good challenge for them to be in this large of a field to see if they can hang onto each other midrace, and for those frontrunners to really get challenged to see how front of a runner they are."
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