Men Second, Women Fifth At 35th Annual Paul Short Invitational
Senior Frank Eanes was one of four upperclassmen that paced a second-place team result Friday at Lehigh.

Bethlehem, PA — One of the largest and most prestigious cross country meets in the nation was a grand backdrop for the Messiah cross country program this weekend, as the men finished second and the women fifth at the 35th annual Lehigh University Brooks Paul Short Run Friday.

Competing against 41 teams in the men’s race and 37 squads on the women’s side, Messiah ran off to results of impressive magnitude behind a pack of experience: Three juniors and a senior helped comprise the Falcons’ five scoring runners in the both the men’s and women’s events.

“Today just shows how our training program is geared toward breaking through as a junior or senior,” said Dale Fogelsanger, Messiah head coach. “Longevity is respected in our training philosophy. It’s that 12-month, year-round group running that has substantial impact on your college career. Our upperclassmen have stepped it up this year physically, mentally. They’re really confident, and it’s showing in our results.”

That confidence was especially beaming in the men’s race, as senior Frank Eanes guided his squad with an 11th-place, 26:09 time, his best clip of the season to date. Junior Cory Kaufman (21st, 26:33), freshman Tyler Newhook (25th, 26:38), junior Peter Shenk (38th, 26:55) and junior Jeff Smeiles (43rd, 27:01) complemented that effort, with the junior contingent turning in miraculous improvements from last year’s Paul Short Run. Kaufman posted a 28:39 result in 2007, while Shenk finished at 29:00 and Smeiles 28:02.

“Now a 90-second improvement is a lot, but it’s a good example of what we’re trying to do here,” Fogelsanger said of his junior group. “I definitely expect to see improvement, but this was just really great today. I’m obviously very pleased with how we ran.”

In the men’s race, Messiah (138 team points) finished with a season-best gap time of just 52 seconds, falling in the team scoring only to Ithaca College (97 points). Sophomore Taylor Munoz (124th overall, 28:16) and freshman Matthew Herring (169th overall, 29:01) completed the Falcons’ competitors in the varsity event. A total of 270 runners competed.

On the women’s side, a stellar field could only slightly negate an improved effort from the Falcons, as the team bettered its ninth-place team finish in 2007 with a 177-point, fifth-place effort Friday. Senior Jenny Kooser bettered her ’07 second-place time by 40 seconds, only to finish seventh overall in a time of 22:10.

Junior Jacklyn VanArsdale was not far behind (34th, 23:04), while classmates Inna Potekhina (43rd, 23:14) and Erin Rhodes (46th, 23:20) finished tightly.

Freshman Mary Higgins was the Falcons’ final scoring runner, coming in on Rhodes’ heels in a 23:21 clip, good for 47th overall.

“Jenny and Erin were each roughly 40 seconds faster than they were last year, but this year’s field was much tougher,” Fogelsanger said. “They finished second and 14th (in the 2007) race, but you can’t get caught up in that. Improvement is improvement.”

Teams finishing ahead of Messiah on Friday read as a who’s-who of cross country, as 14th-ranked Cortland State won the team event with 102 total points. NCAA Division II Edinboro University finished second (113 points), while a pair of NCAA Division I institutions — the University of San Diego (144 points) and Manhattan College (152) — finished third and fourth.

Messiah’s scoring runners were complemented by freshman Courtney Long (71st overall, 23:53) and junior Sarah Clemmer (98th, 24:19). A total 260 runners competed in the women’s event.

In addition to the men’s and women’s “white” races, Lehigh hosted 45 men’s teams and 43 women’s squads in the “brown” or “big school” events. A JV race for both male and female collegiate competitors was also conducted — Messiah’s contingent in the men’s JV card was freshman Daniel Herring (28:06), freshman Christopher Boyd (28:10), junior Trevor Book (28:23) and freshman Craig Hutcheson (28:42). On the women’s side, the Falcons were represented by sophomore Mollie Knauss (23:53), freshman Brooke Airey (24:11), junior Jennifer Hellman (25:04) and freshman Katherine Spiering (25:39).

Messiah will next take a weekend off from competition in observance of the school’s fall break, returning to competitive running Friday, Oct. 17 at the Penn State University National Meet. Race time is set for 10 a.m. for the men’s event and 11 a.m. for the women’s.