BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Rutgers cross country returned to action Saturday, competing in the 49th annual Paul Short Run on the campus of Lehigh University. The women's squad placed 20th out of 44 squads as Alex Carlson led the way for the Scarlet Knights with an 11th-place finish. On the men's side, RU finished 27th out of 43 teams.
 
"The women had a solid day beating six of the 23 teams ranked in the top 15 of their respective region," said head coach Matthew Jelley. "Alex Carlson led the way with an 11th place finish out of 393 runners.  Sofia Condron had another solid performance with her finish in 88th place. Rylee Ferretti, Emma Baeyens and Lorena David rounded out the scoring for the Scarlet Knights."
 
Carlson ran the 6K race in 20:35.0 to finish 11th in a field of more than 400 runners. Sofia Condron was the second Scarlet Knight to cross the finish line in 21:37.6 to take 88th place. She was followed by Rylee Ferretti (113th; 21:52.1), Emma Baeyens (187th; 22:25.3) and Lorena David (213th; 22:35.4).
 
"The men came out to prove they should be ranked in the Mid-Atlantic region," Jelley added. "They made a big statement beating five teams that were ranked in their region, including four from our own region. Zeb Hinker led the way with a huge race placing 89th. Kyle Rakitis knocked off some rust competing for the first time in over a year and placing second for the knights. Brian Pedretti, Liam Tilton and Billy Clewell also scored for Rutgers in our third, fourth and fifth spot for the team."
 
Zeb Hinker finished in 89th place, running a time of 24:59.6 to pace the Scarlet Knights on the 8K course. Kyle Rakitis made his first appearance since transferring to Rutgers as he finished 168th in 25:30.8. Brian Pedretti placed 198th with a time of 25:40.5, followed by Liam Tilton (205th; 25:42.3) and Billy Clewell (211th; 25:43.7).
 
The Scarlet Knights will take a break from the action for two weeks before returning on Friday, Oct. 13 for the Delaware Invitational.
 
Team Standing
Women Results – 6K (20th out of 44)
11. Alex Carlson                                       20:35.0
88. Sofia Condron                                    21:37.6
113. Rylee Ferretti                                    21:52.1
187. Emma Baeyens                                22:25.3
213. Lorena David                                    22:35.4
253. Kaila Spence                                     22:57.2
270. Sophia Reich                                     23:03.3
300. Megan Donlevie                              23:21.0
374. Paige Boyce                                      24:47.8
 
Men Results – 8K (27th out of 43)
89. Zeb Hinker                                           24:59.6
168. Kyle Rakitis                                       25:30.8
198. Brian Pedretti                                   25:40.5
205. Liam Tilton                                        25:42.3
211. Billy Clewell                                      25:43.7
217. Ryan Mitchell                                   25:46.2
260. Micah Lawson                                  26:04.4
294. Dan Pedretti                                     26:18.9
307. Gavin Richards                                 26:25.2