BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Rutgers cross country returns to action for the 49th annual Paul Short Run on the campus of Lehigh University on Saturday, Sept. 30. The men’s 8K race begins at 11 a.m., followed by the women’s 6K at 11:45 a.m.
The Scarlet Knights are coming off a two-week break after competing at the LIU Fall Festival in Brookville, N.Y., which the women’s team won the event and the men placed second overall.
“The Paul Short Run attracts some of the best team in the country,” said head coach Matthew Jelley. “Both the men and women will face no less than 23 teams on each side who are ranked in the top 15 of their respective regions. It will be exciting to see how we stack up. This level of competition will also help prepare us for the level we will see at the Big Ten Championships and NCAA Regionals.
“Alex Carlson looks to continue to lead the women and improve on her performance from previous years with Sofia Condron and Riley Ferretti poised for solid performances in our top 3. We are excited to watch the rest develop as they vie for a top-seven roster spot. The men will be running at full strength and we are looking forward to adding Liam Tilton, who is fresh off his U20 Pan Am games qualification this summer. It will also be the debut of transfer Kyle Rakitis and their addition should immediately boost the team scoring. Both teams are getting better by the day and are ready to show their progress.”
The Scarlet Knights captured the women’s team title at the LIU Fall Festival behind a 1-2-3 performance from Alex Carlson, Sofia Condron and Rylee Ferretti. The trio led a group that finished with a total of five runners in the top 10. Carlson outpaced the group by more than a minute, finishing the 5K course with a time of 17:41.37.
On the men’s side, Rutgers had three finishers in the top 10 as Ryan Mitchell led the pack in 26:06.98, followed by Brian Pedretti and Micah Lawson. The group placed second in the team standings following the 8K race.
The 49th annual Lehigh Paul Short Run will feature more than 5,200 student-athletes representing colleges and high schools over 10 races throughout the day.
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