ATHENS, W.Va. – The Concord University men's and women's cross country teams will be in action at the Paul Short Run hosted by Lehigh University Friday afternoon with the men's team racing at 12:15 p.m., and the women toeing the line at 2:30 p.m.
LAST TIME OUT
The Mountain Lion men finished fourth out of 34 teams at the Queens City Invite in Charlotte, North Carolina last weekend. CU was led by senior
Issac Prather who completed the 8,000-meter course in 23:43 to pick up his second individual win of the season. Prather set a program record for 8,000-meters on his way to becoming the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches' Association (USTFCCCA) Division II National Athlete of the Week. However, Prather wasn't the only Concord runner with a stellar showing. Freshman
Logan Zuchelli (24:27) and sophomore
Preston Prather (24:39) finished 12
th and 14
th, respectively. Fifth-year senior
Raheem Williams ran his fastest time as a Mountain Lion as he clocked 26:04 at Queens. Fellow fifth-year senior
Samuel Haynes came through in 26:10 as he missed a personal-best time by 25 seconds.
Junior
Hannah Altizer set her own program record for fastest time for the women's cross country team as she crossed in 18:01 to place 12
th at Queens. Fellow junior
Emily Wallace broke the 19-minute mark by stopping the timer at 18:58. Freshman
Erin O'Sullivan had a strong showing with a time of 19:18. Two more freshmen
Madison Cornett (20:36) and
Lia Jennings (21:24) rounded out the Concord top five.
PAUL SHORT RUN PREVIEW
CU faces some stiff competition this weekend. The women are ranked 10
th in Atlantic Regional USTFCCCA Poll and will race fellow regional schools California (Pa.), East Stroudsburg, Fairmont State, Indiana (Pa.), Kutztown and Millersville. A total of 39 schools—all either Division II or III will be in the women's race Friday. The top returner from two years ago at Paul Short was junior
Maggie Thompson who clocked 29:39 for the 6,000-meter course.
As for the Concord men's team, they begin the weekend ranked fourth in the regional coaches' poll, and will race against fellow ranked teams Bloomsburg (10
th), IUP (eighth) and Lock Haven (sixth). Other notable teams Concord squares off against includes Southern Connecticut State (ranked second in the East Region) as well as several Division III teams that are regionally ranked. Senior
Cedric Drennen paced CU's effort in 2019 at the Paul Short Run with a time of 25:50 for 8,000-meters. Junior
Nate Leichner was one second behind Drennen.
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