College Cross Country

Rider at Lehigh's Paul Short

BETHLEHEM, PA-The Rider University men's and women's cross country teams took part in the 37^th Paul Short Run Friday at Lehigh. "We took a step back today, which is frustrating," said Rider head coach Bob Hamer.

The Rider men placed 42^nd among the highest level of competition, in the 8K Gold Race, which featured six of the top 25 teams in Division I, including No. 12 Iona, No. 14 Villanova and No. 22 Virginia.  Virginia won the race.

"This was our first time in the Gold Race," Hamer said. "We feel we are a pretty good team this year and we wanted to challenge the guys against the best. But there is a difference between thinking you are a good team and actually competing on the day that it matters and showing you are a good team. We are much better than what we did today."

The Rider women placed 26^th of 41 teams in the 6K Brown Race. Rutgers won the race.

"Our women did not do very well," Hamer said. "They did not embrace this opportunity. We are a much better team than what we showed today."

For the Rider men, senior Christian Gonzalez (Somerset, NJ/Franklin Twp.) finished 16^th in a Rider-record time of 24:15. In 2008 Gonzalez set the Bronc mark for the Lehigh course with a 24:43 clocking. He finished 20^th of 323 runners last season, covering the 8,000m course in 25:37.

"Chris ran great," Hamer said. "He got out with the lead pack of about 15 runners and was in it for about 5K. He started to struggle a bit around 6K and wasn't able to finish as strong as he had hoped. But I was pleased with his race."

For the Rider women senior Chelsea Callan (Hazlet, NJ/Raritan) placed 60^th of 385 runners in 23:13.

Last year Callan placed 24^th of the 338 runners in the Brown Race, covering the 6,000m course in a Rider record time of 22:21.

Also for the Rider men, senior Michael Soroko (Kinnelon, NJ/Kinnelon) finished 241^st of the 384 runners in the Gold Race with a time of 26:16.

"With the exception of Chris, everybody ran poorly today," Hamer said. "It was definitely not a reflection of the team we are."

Sophomore Sean McCullough (Plymouth Meeting, PA/La Salle) was 258^th in 26:29, junior Michael Lindner (Whitehouse Station, NJ/Hunterdon Central) placed 278^th in 26:57, sophomore Greg Wesh (Horsham, PA/Hatboro-Horsham) placed 286^th in 27:24 and sophomore John Hill (Voorhees, NJ/Eastern) finished 290^th with a time of 28:01.

Also for the Rider women, junior Heather Giovagnoli (Royersford, PA/Spring Ford) was 98^th in 23:37, sophomore Jillian Shutt (Lawrenceville, PA/Williamson) was 134^th in 23:56, sophomore Paige McAtee (Massapequa, NY/Massapequa) was 161^st in 24:11, sophomore Erin Fitzgibbons (Sayreville, NJ/Sayreville) was 185^th in 24:24, sophomore Megan Elgin (Doylestown, PA/Central Bucks East) was 209^th in 24:36, senior Johanna Clarke (Laurelton, NY/Mary Louis Academy) was 239^th in 25:09, junior Kelli Kaelin (Little Egg Harbor, NJ/Pinelands Regional) was 283^rd in 25:16, sophomore Nicole Tassello (Suffern, NY/Suffern) was 290^th in 25:23 and junior Kristen Perrine (Brick, NJ/Brick Memorial) was 323^rd in 26:02.

Paul Short is one of the largest cross country meets in the nation, with more than 5,000 runners from 230 colleges and high schools competing in races throughout the day.

Six Broncs were among the 356 runners to begin the day in the Men's 8K Open Race, with sophomore Josh Frake (Bristol, PA/Bristol) finishing 188^th in 27:51, freshman Avery Schofield (Glassboro, NJ/Delsea) was 217^th in 28:10, freshman Billy Hackmeister (Coatesville, PA/Coatesville) was 232^nd in 28:21, freshman Matt Sampson (Manasquan, NJ/Manasquan) was 260^th in 28:58, junior David South (Sergeantsville, NJ/Hunterdon Central) was 289^th in 29:27 and freshman Anton Pokras (Secaucus, NJ/Secaucus) was 321^st in 30:20.

Rider competes at the Penn State National Meet October 16. "We generally go there and compete hard," Hamer said. "It is a very challenging race with a lot of great teams there. We have some work to do."

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