Slew of Lehigh Runners Run Private Bests on the Paul Short Run

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh hosted the 2025 Paul Short Run Presented by Asics Friday on the Goodman Campus Cross Country Course. The Mountain Hawks cut up their crew between the Gold and Open Races. Lehigh positioned twenty ninth as a crew, scoring 844 factors. 

Georgetown was the general crew winner, scoring 102 factors en path to its fifth males’s Paul Short title. The Hoyas beat out Utah State and Texas A&M, who completed in second and third, respectively. Sam Burgess of Harvard was the primary general finisher within the Gold Race, setting a successful time of 23:18.6. 

Of the ten Lehigh runners who ran within the Gold Race, six of them set new private bests, together with the highest three. That group was led by junior Ryan Baker, who’s private finest time of 24:20.0 landed him in 84th place. This race additionally gave him the fourth place spot on Lehigh’s Goodman Cross Country Course all-time document record. The subsequent finisher for the Mountain Hawks was senior Adam Barbato. Although he simply missed out on putting within the high 100, his 109th place ending time of 24:35.3 gave him a 30-second private finest. 

“I think we had a phenomenal one-two punch,” exclaimed head coach Debbie Utesch. “Ryan Baker had a career performance, Adam Barbato ran a career performance. The gold race has a very different look. When you’re PRing, running faster than you ever run, and you are in the back of this tremendous field. It’s a different look, and it feels different doing that.”

Sophomore Charlie Butler was the third finisher for Lehigh at 25:24.2. His 21 second private finest time landed him in 223rd. Senior Dan Malatesta led the trio of himself and juniors Dylan Cunningham and Derek Coceano to the end line as the following three Lehigh finishers. They all completed inside 4 seconds of one another, working 25:41.7 (258th), 25:42.7 (262th), and 25:45.0 (266th), respectively. Cuningham’s time was a 25-second private finest. Senior Connor Malinger rounded out Lehigh’s high seven, working 25:52.2 to safe 278th place. 

Will Mrozinski was the primary Mountain Hawk to complete within the Open Race, putting 74th general. The sophomore’s time of 25:17.0 was the third finest time for Lehigh on the day, and a 30-second private finest. Senior Henry Burd and sophomore Ben Connell had been the following two Lehigh runners to complete, putting 109th and 119th respectively. Burd set a brand new private finest at 25:32.6, and Connell’s time of 25:38.3 was just one second shy of his finest. Senior Alex Heidemann (a hundred and seventieth) and junior Noah Zahn (one hundred and ninetieth) had been the fourth and fifth runners for the Mountain Hawks, with instances of 25:57.1and 26:05.8, respectively.

“It was really interesting to see how well the guys in the open race did,” Utesch famous. “I think we have some good momentum on an individual level that we need to tighten up into a team performance.”

The Mountain Hawks head to New Jersey for his or her subsequent occasion. They will race on the Princeton Fall Classic on Friday, October 18.