By Abby Condon, Staff Writer
Senior River Hawk Erin Reese placed 6th overall and ran a blistering 22:25.70 for a top 10 finish in the historic 46th annual Paul Short Run held on Oct. 5 at Lehigh University.
Reese led the Susquehanna women’s cross-country team to a 15th place finish and a total of 412 points in a field of 44 teams. Reese was also the first runner from the Landmark Conference to cross the finish line.
A total of 375 athletes competed in the women’s college division.
Haverford College finished as the top team, followed by New York University in second and Christopher Newport in third. The women’s champion, Siena Moran of NYU, broke the tape with a winning time of 21:52.40 on the 6K course.
Susquehanna junior Marissa Kleman finished 41st with a time of 23:13.70 followed by freshman Kallan Carter who gave the River Hawks a 49th place finish with a time of 23:26.80.
Rounding out the top five finishers for Susquehanna were senior Katherine Mayer with a time of 25:08.70, placing 169th and sophomore Anastasia Farley with a time of 25:29.90 to finish 192nd overall.
Contributions by other River Hawk finishers included senior Emily Eck with a time of 26:28.00, freshman Meghan McDonald with a time of 27:39.10 and a 283rd place finish, sophomore Callie Rohrer with a time of 28:06.50 for a 299th place finish and junior Jillian Michales following quickly behind with a time of 28:06.60
“The Paul Short Invitational, which was the biggest race we’ve been to all season, was honestly the most exciting race so far,” Mayer said.
Mayer added that the team is “really looking forward to being able to show the Landmark Conference what our team is all about.”
This is the halfway point in the cross-country season and the Susquehanna women’s team has enjoyed great success through the first half of the season.
Susquehanna men’s cross country competed in the men’s college division 8K for the Paul Short Run, finishing 24th overall.
The River Hawk men’s team had a top 50 finish with sophomore Jack Warehime crossing the line with a personal best time of 26:21.80 and placing 34th out of 348 runners, followed by freshman Shane Urban who set a personal best time of 27:46 for a 138th place finish.
Rounding out the top 200 finishers was Susquehanna senior Brandon Sorge, who posted a time of 28:26.10 and earned a 181st place finish and sophomore John Sabella, who finished in the 200th spot with a personal best time of 28:51.90.
Susquehanna was helped by the efforts of junior Jake Menchey, finishing as the fifth River Hawk with a time of 29:20, freshman Bradshaw Henning with a time of 31:02.70, senior Robert Masters with a time of 31:38.80 and freshman Thomas Simmer placing 313th with a time of 33:17.20.
Wesleyan University placed first overall with a score of 104 followed by Cortland State in second,and Vassar in third.
The men’s champion, Cabel McCandless of Cortland State won the title with a winning time of 25:28.70 for the 8K race.
Up next, the Susquehanna cross country teams will compete in the Rowan Border Battle at 11:45 a.m. on Oct. 19 at the Gloucester Country Dream Park in Logan Township, N.J.