Men’s Cross Country Competes in Gold and Open Races at 52nd Paul Short Run

Friday, October 2

Bethlehem, Pa.

11:00 AM

Lehigh University

Paul Short Run

Results

Men’s Cross Country Competes in Gold and Open Races at 52nd Paul Short Run

10/2/2026 5:12:00 PM | Men's Cross Country

Results Paul Short Run Weather Update

BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Lehigh hosted the 2026 Paul Short Run presented by ASICS Friday on the Goodman Campus Cross Country Course. The Mountain Hawks split their team between the Gold and Open Races. Lehigh placed 27th as a team in the Gold Race, scoring 717 points in the 35-team field.

Wingate won the Gold Race title, scoring 58 points en route to its second men's Paul Short Run title in the past three years. The Bulldogs beat out Penn State and Pittsburgh, which finished second and third, respectively. Nick Sloff of Penn State claimed the individual title, finishing the 8K course in 23:58.8.

Junior Will Mrozinski paced the Mountain Hawks in the Gold Race, finishing 82nd with a time of 25:23.8. Jason and Ryan Baker rounded out the top three for Lehigh, placing 159th (26:02.1) and 162nd (26:03.2), respectively.

Junior Isaac Greene set a personal best time of 26:06.4 and was the fourth Mountain Hawk to cross the finish line, placing 172nd. Junior Ben Connell rounded out the top five for Lehigh, finishing 195th overall in 26:18.9.

"Despite some tough weather conditions that caused us to change our approach, we saw some real bright spots on the men's side today," said head coach Debbie Utesch. "Will had a strong race and paced himself really well, which helped him move up more than 100 spots as the race progressed, which is something we emphasized coming into the race."

First-Year Adam Slater made his Goodman Campus Cross Country Course debut in the Open Race, pacing all Mountain Hawks with a time of 26:26.1, good for 86th overall. Senior Dylan Cunningham also placed in the top 100, finishing the 8K course in 26:31.3 (96th).

Senior Noah Zahn, junior Jared Weiss and first-year Marc Desforges all finished within seven seconds of each other to round out the top five for Lehigh, placing 107th (26:37.8), 113th (26:42.2) and 117th (26:44.7), respectively.

"Today was about competing rather than chasing times," said Utesch. "Between the weather conditions and the fact that we were coming off a dual last week, we know we weren't going to be as fresh as usual coming into competition. All things considered, I think we held up well, and I'm confident in the way this team is going to move forward in the next few weeks."

Elevated heat conditions and rapidly rising temperatures forced the cancellation of the final six races of today's Paul Short Run. The decision was made following consultation between on-site medical personnel and Lehigh Athletics administrators to prioritize the safety and well-being of all student-athletes and participants.

The College Brown, White, and Green races will not be contested. The men's and women's Open and College Gold races were successfully completed earlier in the day.

Lehigh heads to Farmingdale, N.Y., for its next event, competing in the IC4A Championships on October 17. The men are scheduled to compete at 10:30 a.m.