MORGANTOWN, W.VA. – After a three-week hiatus, the West Virginia University cross country team travels to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, to compete at the Paul Short Run on October 1 at the Goodman Cross Country Course.
Lehigh hosts the day-long event, welcoming nearly 6,000 runners across the collegiate and high school level. West Virginia will compete in the Women’s College Gold 6k race, starting at 11:45 a.m. ET.
“We have trained well since our last competition,” coach Sean Cleary said. “I am pleased with the commitment of the group and how they have negotiated some early-season sickness. We learned early that we had some big holes in terms of the gaps between our front runners and the pack. The group knows exactly what we have to do to become a more relevant team, and we have embraced this challenge. Saturday will be a perfect mid-season meet to test our abilities. We will see 300 or so runners on the line, along with many of the east coasts’ best programs. We are looking forward to the test.”
Three nationally ranked teams will compete in the women’s gold race, including two that are in the Mid-Atlantic Region, No. 19 Georgetown and No. 22 Penn.
The last time the Mountaineers competed at the Paul Short Run was 2013, when the team finished eighth out of 47 teams.
The regular season opened with the Texas Tech Invitational on Sept. 8, where WVU claimed the team victory and redshirt junior Jillian Forsey won the race in a field of 70 runners. Select Mountaineers also competed at the Spiked Shoe Invitational on Sept. 10, placing fifth as a team.
West Virginia ranks No. 6 in the USTFCCCA Mid-Atlantic Regional ranking.
In two weeks, the Mountaineers will race at the Penn State Nationals on October 14, in State College, Pennsylvania.
