Saturday, October 5
Bethlehem, Pa.
9:30 AM
Lehigh University
vs
Paul Short Run
Photo by: Don Paul
Men's Cross Country Places 34th In Paul Short Run Gold 8K
10/5/2024 4:38:00 PM | Men's Cross Country
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The 50th running of the annual Paul Short Run took place on Saturday morning from Lehigh's Goodman Campus Cross Country Course. The Mountain Hawks competed in both the Open 8K and the Gold 8K races in what is one of the biggest cross country meets in the nation.
The Paul Short Run began in 1969 to honor the late Paul Short, a former Lehigh student-athlete, administrator and avid fan of Lehigh track and field and cross country. The run celebrated its 50th anniversary this year, and to commemorate the milestone, the event was split up over the course of two days for the first time in its history.
The Mountain Hawks placed 34th as a team out of 44 competing teams in the Gold 8K, earning a score of 912. The top finishing team was Wingate, the number one ranked program in all of Division-II cross country. They placed four runners within the top ten to earn a team score of 30 points.
"Today I thought we could've been up a little higher," said head coach Todd Etters. "Races don't get much bigger than the Paul Short Run… we have to do a better job of sticking together as a group and executing our gameplan."
Utah State's Cameron Todd claimed the individual crown with a time of 23:18.8, followed by Wingate's Hamza Chahid (23:19.1) and Lukas Ehrle (23:28.7). Finishing in first for the Mountain Hawks for the second-straight year was senior Kevin Harvey, who placed 154th with a time of 25:06.5.
Lehigh's second-place finisher was junior Dan Malatesta, who finished closely behind Harvey in 156th with a time of 25:06.7. Rounding out the top three for the Mountain Hawks was senior Aidan Lynch (160th, 25:10.0).
"I thought Dan did what you want to see out of someone knocking on the door of being in your top five," said Etters. "Today he took a bigger risk and saw an opportunity to step up and run hard, and that's what we need to see."
Other finishers for Lehigh in the Gold 8K included sophomore Ryan Baker (249th, 25:43.9), sophomore Noah Zahn (271st, 25:57.4), sophomore Thomas Smigo (272nd, 25:57.9), sophomore Dylan Cunningham (321st, 26:32.2), first-year Ben Connell (332nd, 26:48.3), junior Alex Heidemann (345th, 27:04.5) and junior Adam Barbato (357th, 27:38.7).
In the men's Open 8K, Lehigh had eight runners competing as well as 19 alumni. The top finisher for the Mountain Hawks was first-year Will Mrozinski, who placed 87th with a time of 25:47.4. Rounding out the top three for the Mountain Hawks was first-year Jared Weiss (186th, 26:39.1) and junior Max Leffler (188th, 26:40.0).
The Mountain Hawks will next compete at the IC4A Championships in New York City on October 18.
"The main thing we want to work on is executing a race where we're challenging ourselves and being a little more open minded about what we're capable of," said Etters. "I think sometimes we're too analytical and we limit what we can accomplish. If we can put that aside and just race hard, I think we'll see positive results."
Follow Lehigh men's cross country on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
ÂGallery: (10-5-2024) 50th Paul Short Run
The Paul Short Run began in 1969 to honor the late Paul Short, a former Lehigh student-athlete, administrator and avid fan of Lehigh track and field and cross country. The run celebrated its 50th anniversary this year, and to commemorate the milestone, the event was split up over the course of two days for the first time in its history.
The Mountain Hawks placed 34th as a team out of 44 competing teams in the Gold 8K, earning a score of 912. The top finishing team was Wingate, the number one ranked program in all of Division-II cross country. They placed four runners within the top ten to earn a team score of 30 points.
"Today I thought we could've been up a little higher," said head coach Todd Etters. "Races don't get much bigger than the Paul Short Run… we have to do a better job of sticking together as a group and executing our gameplan."
Utah State's Cameron Todd claimed the individual crown with a time of 23:18.8, followed by Wingate's Hamza Chahid (23:19.1) and Lukas Ehrle (23:28.7). Finishing in first for the Mountain Hawks for the second-straight year was senior Kevin Harvey, who placed 154th with a time of 25:06.5.
Lehigh's second-place finisher was junior Dan Malatesta, who finished closely behind Harvey in 156th with a time of 25:06.7. Rounding out the top three for the Mountain Hawks was senior Aidan Lynch (160th, 25:10.0).
"I thought Dan did what you want to see out of someone knocking on the door of being in your top five," said Etters. "Today he took a bigger risk and saw an opportunity to step up and run hard, and that's what we need to see."
Other finishers for Lehigh in the Gold 8K included sophomore Ryan Baker (249th, 25:43.9), sophomore Noah Zahn (271st, 25:57.4), sophomore Thomas Smigo (272nd, 25:57.9), sophomore Dylan Cunningham (321st, 26:32.2), first-year Ben Connell (332nd, 26:48.3), junior Alex Heidemann (345th, 27:04.5) and junior Adam Barbato (357th, 27:38.7).
In the men's Open 8K, Lehigh had eight runners competing as well as 19 alumni. The top finisher for the Mountain Hawks was first-year Will Mrozinski, who placed 87th with a time of 25:47.4. Rounding out the top three for the Mountain Hawks was first-year Jared Weiss (186th, 26:39.1) and junior Max Leffler (188th, 26:40.0).
The Mountain Hawks will next compete at the IC4A Championships in New York City on October 18.
"The main thing we want to work on is executing a race where we're challenging ourselves and being a little more open minded about what we're capable of," said Etters. "I think sometimes we're too analytical and we limit what we can accomplish. If we can put that aside and just race hard, I think we'll see positive results."
Follow Lehigh men's cross country on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
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