BETHLEHEM, PA. - In rainy and muddy conditions, the Monmouth University men's and women's cross country teams recorded its best finishes at The Paul Short Run hosted by Lehigh University on Friday afternoon. The men's squad, lead by senior Ben Hutterer's (Saxonburg, Pa./Knoch) 15th place finish, completed the 8k fifth out of 40 teams, while the women, paced by Jen Nelson's (Barnegat, N.J./Barnegat) seventh place result, posted a 10th place finish out of 41.
The men's fifth place finish is the highest at the Paul Short Run in program history. Princeton took the crown men's crown with 36 points followed by Colgate with 169. New Hampshire finished third with 181 points trailed by Ithaca with 190 points. The Hawks registered 229 points while George Washington (328), Vermont (329), Queen's (350), Adelphia (350) and Fairfield (381) rounded out the top-10.
"It is certainly nice to move up from where we were previous years at Lehigh, but we absolutely expected more from this group," said head coach Joe Compagni.
Hutterer finish the five-mile course in 25:48, just 5:12 off the first place mark, in 15th place to match Nick Pellegrino's program-best finish in 2003. Freshman Seth Robbins (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) was the next Hawk to cross the finish line in 26:30, 56th overall. Dan Collura (Jackson, N.J./Jackson Memorial) and Sean Hartnett (Marlton, N.J./Cherokee) finished the race in 26:32 and 26:46, respectively. Billy Dowd (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's) crossed the tape 86th overall with a time of 26:48. Garth DeBlasio (Millstone, N.J./Allentown) and Mike Bertocchi (Morris Plains, N.J./Parsippany Hills) rounded out the top seven for the Hawks, finishing a second apart, at 26:50 and 26:51.
Rutgers won the women's race recording 118 points, pursued by Princeton with 161 points. Loyola followed at third with 176 tallies, followed by Canisius at fourth with 231 points. SUNY Cortland (246), Millersville (258), Tampa (278), Kutztown (287) and Stonehill (283) finished before the Hawks who tallied 331 points, who finished one spot higher than in 2009.
"The women's team had some excellent efforts, but as a team we did not finish where we expected," commented Compagni.
Nelson finished in the top 10 for the fourth straight race for the Blue and White, finishing the 6k course in 22:03. Nelson's seventh place finish is the highest individual effort at the Paul Short run in program history. Senior Christine Altland (Hazlet, N.J./Raritan) was next to cross the finish line for the Hawks, placing 63rd with a time of 23:15. Kelsey Maher (Jackson, N.J./Jackson Memorial) and Juliet Smith (Freedom, Pa./Freedom Area) finished the race three second apart, with times of 23:23 and 23:26 good for 69th and 77th place, respectively. Freshman, Lucia Montefusco (Levittown, N.Y./MacArthur) was next to cross the finish line, 115th overall, with a time of 23:44. Rounding out the women's team top seven were Emily MacEwen (South Glastonbury, Conn./Glastonbury) and Macey Marko (Somerset, N.J./Franklin), with times of 24:11 and 24:28.
The Hawks return to action October 16th, at the Princeton Invitational, starting at 10:30 a.m.
