Cross Country heads to Bethlehem for Paul Short Run

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Less than a week after a great showing at the Ted Owen Invitational, the Bryant University cross country team heads to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania to compete in the Paul Short Run hosted by Lehigh University. The women will be competing in a 6K meet, the first of the season for them, after running in two 5Ks, while the men will be competing in their usual 8K.

Both teams are running in the Brown race, one of three different races held at the Ted Owen on Saturday. The men will run at 12:15 p.m. while the women run at 1 p.m.

The Bulldogs are coming into the weekend after the women took home a fourth-place finish among the 11 schools competing at the Ted Owen Invitational, thanks in part to senior Melissa Lodge (Hopkinton, Massachusetts) finishing third overall. The men, led by freshman Noah Tellier's (North Kingstown, Rhode Island) top-25 finish, earned a seventh-place result.

The Paul Short Run is one of the top cross country events in the eastern United States, inviting over 100 schools competing in the all-grass course. 

"The Paul Short is a meet we go to run fast at," Bryant head cross country coach Noah Carroll said. "The weather has been good all week, so times should be pretty quick without high temps or poor footing."

While the women will be competing in a longer race than normal, Carroll believes the challenge will be good for the team ahead of the NEC Championships.

"The course is a little longer than they're used to, but it's good to get them to race a little over distance before championship season," Carroll said.

For the men, Carroll expects the team to compete and do well overall. "As long as they run how I know they can, we should see some personal bests at the Paul Short," the coach added.

Also running for the Bulldogs this weekend will likely be Ryan Poholek (North Attleboro, Mass.), Jordan Dagrin (Providence, Rhode Island), Robert McCabe (Marlborough, Mass.), Alexander Evans (Bow, N.H.), Chris Wrenn (Norton, Mass.), Harrison McKinlay (Sutton, Mass.), Brian Salit (Seekonk, Mass.) and Joseph Suita (Unionville, Conn.). 

For the women, Jacklyn Sullivan (Plymouth, Mass.) looks to build on her solid start to the season after finishing 13th last week at the Ted Owen Invitational. Olivia Weiss (Newton, N.J.), Caroline Meizen (Douglas, Mass.), Breann Campise (Tolland, Conn.), Sarah Lapham (Greenwich, N.Y.), Ellie Goyette (Lowell, Mass.) and Kierstin Lock (Salem, N.H.) are all expected to run at the Paul Short.

"It's always important for us to go and run tough," Carroll said. "If we can do that at Paul Short, in particular, the talent in every race is so dense it can really elevate everyone's season."