Montana State Travels to East Coast to Participate in Paul Short Run

Saturday, October 5

Bethlehem, PA (Goodman Campus Course)

9 a.m.

Montana State University

Paul Short Run

Photo by: Sam Bloom

Montana State Travels to East Coast to Participate in Paul Short Run

10/2/2019 11:13:00 AM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country

Paul Short Run Info

The Bobcats will compete in an event with plenty of history on Saturday, Oct. 5, when the Montana State cross country teams appear in the Paul Short Run

By: Andrew Pedersen

The Bobcats will compete in an event with plenty of history on Saturday, Oct. 5, when the Montana State cross country teams appear in the Paul Short Run in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

The meet hosted by Lehigh University will be in its 46th edition with it taking place at the Goodman Campus Cross Country Course. The meet was first run in 1969 and has grown to become one of the largest in the nation, which over the course of the day will feature approximately 6,000 athletes from nearly 450 colleges and high schools.

"We're really looking forward to going up against some teams from the East Coast," said Lyle Weese, Montana State's director of cross country. "The meet will have teams from the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast region, so it's totally different competition than we're use to. Utah State will be there, who we faced at our home meet, so it will be good to go up against them.

"We've never been to Lehigh or this course, so we're excited to see what it's like."

The MSU men's and women's teams will be participating in the College Gold 8k and 6k races, respectively. Montana State's men's team will run before the women's squad at 9 a.m. MST. The action takes place at the site of the USTFCCCA Mid-Atlantic Region Championships.

"I think it is a meet that's always helpful for the NCAA qualification process because you get to compete against teams from other regions," Weese said. "Seeing that Lehigh is hosting its regional championship, a lot of the best teams from that region will be at the meet. It's a great opportunity for us to go up against some good competition from that part of the country."

The Bobcat men return to competition after a strong showing at the MSU Cross Country Classic in Bozeman on Sept. 21. Montana State, currently ranked 11th in the USTFCCCA Mountain Region rankings, won the team title by topping No. 8 Utah State in the 8k race by a 28-36 score. MSU was led by Collin Buck, Duncan Hamilton and Ty Mogan, as the trio took three of the top four individual spots.

MSU hopes its full lineup can make an impact against a larger field this Saturday.

"We are looking for them to be right up toward the top of the team competition," Weese said. "The hope is to be able to win, but more than anything, we want to able to compete very well over there."

Montana State's women's team will focus on development as it runs on Saturday. Freshman Camila Noe won the women's individual title at the MSU Cross Country Classic and Anna French joined her in the top 10. Those two will spearhead a group that sends a full lineup to the event this Saturday.

"This meet will be great to build upon on the women's side," Weese said. "I think they can be a really good team by the end of the year and especially if we're taking steps forward. Camila should be up towards the front of the race and Anna will be up there too. As a team, we're looking for improvement from the first weeks of practice and opening meet of the season."

Following Saturday's Paul Short Run, the Montana State cross country teams will have three meets remaining on their schedules. The Bobcats travel to the Midwest to participate in the Pre-National Invitational in Terre Haute, Indiana, on Oct. 19. The Bobcats take part in the Big Sky Championships on Nov. 2 and the NCAA Mountain Region Championships on Nov. 15.