Last Friday, the men’s and women’s cross country teams traveled down to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania to participate in the annual Paul Short Invitational hosted by Lehigh University. They had two weeks of respite since their previous meet at UMass-Amherst on September 20.The Paul Short Invitational field included some of the toughest competition that Colgate has faced this season.

The Lady Raiders participated in a field of 43 teams, finishing in the 39th position. The team finished ahead of St. Joseph University, Temple University, Niagara and St. Bonaventure.

The young runners once again led the team, as sophomore Julie Tarallo finished with a time of 23:12, finishing in the 189th position. First-year Chelsea Burns finished just one second behind her at 23:13, earning her the 192nd position out of 301 runners.

The men’s squad participated in a field of 45 teams, finishing in 35th place. Sophomore Ed Sheridan led the team by posting a season and career-best time of 25:08, to finish 95th out of 298 runners. He was the only Raider to finish in the top 100. He was followed in the Colgate ranks by fellow sophomore Griffith Cannon, who also had the best time of his career by finishing with a 25:29, 135th overall.

Sophomore Grant Stauffer and senior Timothy Drucker placed third and fourth with the Colgate ranks as both clocked in at 26:36. Senior captain Emmett Weatherford successfully completed his first race of the season, rounding out the Raider scoring with a time of 26:55. Head Coach Arthur McKinnon was more than satisfied with the team’s performance last Friday.

“This meet was extremely successful. Nine athletes competed and nine had personal or seasonal best performances. Ed Sheridan led the team with a personal best 8K time of 25:08. This time would have won the Patriot League championships 10 years ago. Nowadays, this time places him among the top 14 for All-Patriot Honors but some distance behind seniors Jon Anderson (Army) and Carlos Jamieson (American University) who should battle for the Patriot League Title this year. I continue to be excited and pleased by the progress of our young team.”

The teams will rest for a week before traveling to the Albany Invitational on Saurday, October 18, their last meet before returning to Lehigh for the Patriot League Championships on Saturday, November 1.