Cross Country Competes At Paul Short Run

Friday, October 1

Bethlehem, PA.

TBA

Rutgers University

Paul Short Run

Oct 02 | Cross Country

Mens College Gold 8k Womens College Gold 6k Mens and Womens Open Race Photo Gallery

Scarlet Knights turn in strong showing against national field

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Rutgers men's and women's cross country made its second trip to the Goodman Campus Course at Lehigh for the 47th Annual Paul Short Run on Friday, Oct. 1. The Scarlet Knights competed in a national field with the women's team placing 20th in a group of 38 teams in the 6k race, while the men's squad finished 32nd among 40 teams in the 8k race.

"The men and women both had solid days against a national field," said head coach Matthew Jelley. "The men ran one of the fastest team averages in recent memory with the top five runners under 26 minutes. The women combined to help Rutgers to one of our fastest recent team averages (21:52)."

The women's squad has showed steady improvement from week to week. Freshman Alex Carlson continues to put up impressive times, as she led the Scarlet Knights and cut 59 seconds off her debut time on the course a month ago. Carlson clocked a time of 21:06.8 to place 53rd. The remaining runners in the top five on the women's side were equally impressive as Olympia Martin and Kiera Nealon ran lifetime PRs and improvements of 31 and 49 seconds, respectively.

Martin finished the race in 21:27.8 (80th), followed by Nealon in 21:44.8 (106th). Michelle Coyotl-Varela had the most impressive jump on the women's side, running a time of 22:17.4 (171st), which was two minutes and nine seconds faster than her previous time. The performance vaulted her into fourth on the team, while Kaitlyn Bragen made her season debut and gave the team a shot in the arm as she finished among the top-five scorers with a time of 22:40.0 (213th).

Billy Hill led the way with a PR of 25:06.6 to place 145th in a field of over 350 runner. Patrick Walsh ran a strong race to move up to second for the team, clocking a time of 25:25.8 (193rd). Will Berger and Ryan Mitchell followed as the third and fourth runners to score for Rutgers, respectively. Berger finished the 8k race in 25:28.9 (200th), while Mitchell posted a time of 25:37.0 (223rd). Chris Hill moved up to fifth for Rutgers, improving his previous effort by 42 seconds to clock a time of 25:53.9 (266th).

OVERALL TEAM RESULTS
Women's Gold 6k – 20th
53. Alex Carlson – 21:06.8
80. Olympia Martin – 21:27.8
106. Kiera Nealon – 21:44.8
171. Michelle Coyotl-Varela – 22:17.4
213. Kaitlyn Bragen – 22:40.0

Men's Gold 8k – 32nd
145. Billy Hill – 25:06.6
193. Patrick Walsh – 25:25.8
200. Will Berger – 25:28.9
223. Ryan Mitchell – 25:37.0
266. Christopher Hill – 25:53.9

NEXT UP
The Scarlet Knights will split the squad for a pair of meets, sending a group to the Penn State National on Friday, Oct. 15, while another contingent will travel to the Princeton Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 16.