On Saturday, Shippensburg Cross Country participated in the 41st Annual Paul Short Run. Lehigh University is the ideal cross country site, as it holds one of the nation’s largest meets annually. More than 5,600 runners compete at the Paul Short Invitational, which is presented by Asics.

Shippensburg’s men’s team ran in the “gold race,” which had a total of 42 schools. Ship came in 23rd overall, as Brayden Burleigh finished as SU’s top runner with a time of 25:04 on Lehigh’s hilly 8K course. Ship was one of three PSAC schools to run in the gold race. Coach Spence knew Brayden Burleigh would strongly lead the pack, providing a “low stick,” while other team members worked together in small packs to push each other and run their best races.

The team was excited to have the opportunity to compete against “traditional distance national powers,” which include Villanova, Georgetown, Iona and Adams. “It is also very interesting to match up with schools coming from afar, like San Diego, Miami, Florida, Alabama and Mississippi,” Spence stated. He concludes that it’s most important to see where exactly the team matches up with other PSAC schools and D-II schools from the northeast.

Senior Brayden Burleigh’s strategies for this week’s race worked well. Burleigh used his best 8K as a Raider, whose third-place cross country finish at last year’s PSAC Championships came in at 25:25.
The entire team truly showed a strong increase in each of their individual times from previous race’s, which makes them entirely successful as a group.

Shippensburg women’s cross country team placed 35th out of 38 schools in the challenging gold race. Junior Rachel Lilley led Ship with a personal best time of 24:09 in the 6K course. Shippensburg was the only PSAC team competing in the gold race.

The team will get right back at, as they will travel to Slippery Rock on October 11 to participate in the Mack Cooper Invitational.

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