Concord Travels to Paul Short Run at Lehigh

ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University men's and women's cross country teams travel to the Paul Short Run Saturday on the campus of Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

LAST TIME OUT
Last weekend, CU competed at the Queens City Invite in Charlotte. The men's team finished 15^th and was ninth among Division II teams. Meanwhile, the women's team placed 24^th.

The top five runners for the Mountain Lions on the women's side was freshman Gretchen Mills, senior Aidan Payton, junior Kate Golinsky, junior Lindsey Cummings and sophomore Kyla Marshall. It marked the third straight meet that Mills led the way for Concord. Mills just missed breaking 20 minutes for 5,000-meters as she ran 20:21. Payton came through in 21:38 while Golinsky just missed dropping under 22 minutes with a time of 22:03.

As for the men's team, they were shuffled into a talented field that included six regionally-ranked teams from the Southeast Region. This week, CU is fifth in the Atlantic Regional Poll that is voted on by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches' Associations (USTFCCCA). Sophomore Cedric Drennen was the top runner for the Mountain Lions in Charlotte as he clocked a time of 26:18 for the 8,000-meter course. Junior Samuel Thomas ran his fastest collegiate 8,000-meter time of 26:54.  Freshman Nate Leichner was in Concord's top three for the first time in his career as he came through in 27:32.

PAUL SHORT PREVIEW
The Concord women will be in the White race of the meet which is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Saturday. Last season, the Mountain Lions finished 13^th at the Paul Short Run. This year, only four runners have experience on the course at Lehigh. Payton ran 25:12 for the 6,000-meter course in 2018. Cumming crossed in 28:33 while sophomores Briana Parsons and Brittany Vaught ran 30:22 and 30:33, respectively. CU will be the lone MEC team in the race, but it will see regional teams Indiana (Pa.) and Kutztown.

As for the Concord men, they will be racing in the Brown race that begins at 12:15 p.m. Saturday. CU will put its regional ranking up against other regionally-ranked schools Edinboro, Indiana (Pa.), Lock Haven and Shippensburg. Edinboro and Lock Haven are currently ranked ahead of Concord in the poll. Last season, Drennen was the number two runner for the Mountain Lions as he crossed in 27:30. Junior Samuel Haynes clocked a showing of 28:01. Sophomore Isaac Prather also ran 28:01 while junior Andrew Barbera came through in 28:07.