BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- The Christopher Newport cross country teams will return to action on Friday when the Captains take part in the 48th Annual Paul Short Run at the Goodman Course on the campus of Lehigh University.
The prestigious competition is one of the largest cross country meets in the nation. The 2022 edition will feature nearly 4,000 collegiate competitors from over 280 teams encompassing all three levels of the NCAA.
The men's Open 8k race will kick off the daylong competition at 9:30 a.m. The women's Open 6k will follow at 10:15 a.m. After the individual races, Christopher Newport will compete on the team side in the Men's Brown 8k at 12:15 p.m., while the women will head out for the Brown 6k at 1:00 p.m.
In the Brown 8k, the Captains will face a field that includes six nationally-ranked Division III squads, including top-20 foes No. 9 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, No. 13 Carnegie Mellon, No. 14 Lynchburg, and No. 19 Haverford. Additionally, 24 Division I programs will take part in the race.
On the women's side, the Brown 6k will also feature six nationally-ranked squads from the Division III level, including No. 5 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and regional foes No. 27 Lynchburg and No. 28 Emory. Meanwhile, 28 Division I programs are slated to compete in the race as well.
In last year's competition, the men finished eighth in the Brown 8k, while the women came in 29th. During the 2021 race, several current Captains shined on the Goodman Course.
Madi Rawlings posted a time of 23:47.9 on the women's side, which - at the time - established a new PR and moved her to 31st on the program's all-time performance list.
Meanwhile, the men established a slew of PRs during last year's meet, including electric efforts by
Daniel Ferrante and
Nathanael Ferrante. Nathanael clocked in at 25:39.9, which moved him to 21st on the school's all-time charts. Daniel also jumped to 25th in program history after finishing in 25:43.3.
Christopher Newport is coming off of a stellar showcase at the NCAA South Regional Preview on September 16. The men finished fourth during that meet and saw several competitors reach new PRs. The Ferrante brothers both eclipsed their work at last year's Paul Short Run as Nathanael crossed in 25:36.3, while Daniel finished in 25:40.7.
Nick Tolarchyk also completed the race in 25:50.5, which moved him to 30th on the school's all-time charts.
The women also excelled at the Regional Preview while placing fifth overall. Rawlings led the squad with a course-best 24:50.0 at Lee Hall Mansion.
Eliza Dana (24:25.8) and
Lex McGrail (24:57.5) also posted their fastest times on Christopher Newport's home course, while
Adalyn Perez set a new PR in 25:31.8.
Following the Paul Short Run, the Captains will return to action at the VertCross Invitational on October 14 in Kernersville, North Carolina.
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