The Paul Short Invitational at Lehigh University is one of the largest cross-country meets in the nation. The competition boasts several ranked teams year in and year out. The Bulls' men's and women's teams found that out the hard way.
Even with the stiff competition, the Bulls had some good performances from their runners. A total of four runners from both teams placed in the top 100 in their respective races during the 34th running of this invitational.
For the men, the Bulls netted 604 points, which placed them in the 20th position out of 41 teams, right behind Carnegie Mellon. Senior Dan Giza led the men by finishing 62nd. He ran the 8K course with a time of 25:29, cutting nine seconds off his season's best time during the Friday meet. Giza has led the men in three of the first four invitationals.
Two other Bulls finished in the top 100 for the men, both of whom also outran their season's best. The men continue to improve as they head into the MAC Championships.
Senior Jesse Mang finished second for the Bulls while placing 80th overall. His time was 25:41, cutting more than a minute off his best time for the season. Following Mang for the Bulls was sophomore Jason Ayr, who placed 95th overall. His time was 25:49, which beat his old mark by 15 seconds.
The women finished in 26th position in the 46-team-field, placing behind the Panthers of Pittsburgh. They finished with 739 points. They were led by junior Mary Veith once again. Veith had the best finish out of all the Bulls' runners, finishing the 6K women's course in 21:29, which was good enough for 32nd place. Like Giza for the men, Veith has led the women in three races.
Unfortunately for the women, Veith was the only one to place in the top 100. The strong field proved to be too much for the women runners to overcome.
Sophomore Nicole Soblosky was second for the women while placing 108th overall. She finished the course in 22:37. Following Soblosky was junior Jessica Schultz with a time of 23:35, which placed her 177th.
Freshmen continue to improve for the both teams as the year progresses. For the men, Ryan Bloom and Jacob Hagen finished fourth and fifth for the Bulls, respectively. Bloom finished 168th with a time of 26:27, while Hagen's time of 26:47 was good enough for the 199th spot.
Freshmen Megan Niblock and Jackie Bozich scored points for the women. Niblock finished 233rd while Bozich completed the course in 259th place.
Coach Vicki Mitchell was very impressed with progress being made by her youngest runners.
"They are only going to get better," Mitchell said. "They have great role models to follow in our upperclassmen."
Villanova, who won the event last year, took the men's competition by scoring 50 points, holding off Syracuse, who finished with 84 points. Bobby Curtis from Villanova won with a time of 23:39.
In the women's competition, Princeton blew away the competition with 45 points. This topped West Virginia's 118 points, which was good enough for second place. Texas Tech's Sally Kipyego finished the women's course in 19:59, which was good enough for the victory.
Mitchell's squad continues to improve as they head towards into the meat of their schedule. She knows that her teams will continue to work hard during practice to improve their performances in the upcoming invitationals.
"With our bigger meets lying ahead, we will continue with the same process of training hard, building great race strength, and looking forward to each competition and the opportunities it provides." she said.
Both teams will be taking a break this upcoming weekend. This will serve a good period of rest and preparation heading into their next invitational. Their next competition is the Bowling Green Falcon Invitational in Ohio. The Bulls head into Ohio for the meet on October 13th after a weekend off.
"They are able to have a little more rest over the weekend as well as more time to apply to studies." Mitchell said.
Photo: Breadchastick / Wikimedia Commons
