Live Results
BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- Going head-to-head against some of the finest programs in the country on Friday, the Christopher Newport cross country teams will compete in the 52nd Annual Paul Short Run, which will be hosted by Lehigh University at the Goodman Cross Country Course in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
Both the men and women will run in the White Division during the meet. The men will take part in the 8k at 12:30 p.m. before the women head out for the 6k at 1:15 p.m. Several Captains will also run in the Open races, which begin at 9:30 a.m.
For those fans unable to attend the meet, live results will be available at LehighSports.com. A direct link can be found at the top of this release and on the schedule page.
One of the nation's largest cross country competitions, this year's edition of the Paul Short Run will feature more than 7,000 total athletes representing over 600 different high schools and colleges. Eight separate college races will take place during an action-packed Friday afternoon.
In the White Division, CNU will face an impressive collection of nationally-ranked teams. On the men's side, the Captains will test themselves against 11 programs that were ranked in the latest USTFCCCA National Coaches Poll. Among the elite competition, three squads were listed in the top-five, including No. 2 SUNY Geneseo, No. 3 Johns Hopkins, and No. 4 NYU.
Meanwhile, in the 6k, Christopher Newport will square off with nine nationally-ranked programs, including No. 1 NYU, who was the unanimous top team in the country in the most recent rankings. Among other squads, No. 3 Johns Hopkins and No. 8 Middlebury will also make the trip to Pennsylvania this week.
Along with the nationally-ranked programs, the CNU women's team comes into Friday slotted third in the latest USTFCCCA South Region poll.
Regular competitors at the Paul Short Run, the women placed 30th during last year's meet, while the men came in 37th in the star-studded field. On an individual level, 17 Captains will be making a return trip to the Goodman Cross Country Course. Of those veterans,
Sarah Dake boasts the top 6k time after finishing the race in 22:27.4 last year, while
Clayton Rankin threw down a mark of 26:25.5 in the 8k.
Along with Dake and Rankin, six other Captains finished in the squad's top-seven last year. On the women's side,
Sarah Bland (23:07.8),
Kayla Lopez (23:41.2),
Courtney Mudd (24:00.4), and
Lena Blagg (24:42.4) were all among CNU's top competitors, while
Luca Hinton (28:19.4) and
Evan Young (28:49.0) starred alongside Rankin for the men.
The Captains are looking to build upon a solid performance at the CNU Invitational, which saw the women capture the team title and the men place second overall. During that competition, Dake set a new course-best at Lee Hall Mansion after finishing in 22:18.8, while Rankin led all Division III runners with a time of 27:25.9 in the 8k.
Following Friday's meet, Christopher Newport will return to action on October 17 with the Inter-Regional Border Battle hosted by Rowan in Logan Township, New Jersey.
---ISH---
