Rider University - September 29, 2006 - 38th of 43 at Paul Short Invitational

September 29, 2006 - 38th of 43 at Paul Short Invitational

September 29, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

College Cross Country
Rider at Lehigh’s Paul Short
Women 29th of 35, Men 38th of 43

BETHLEHEM, PA—The Broncs competed in the 33rd annual Brooks Paul Short Run on Friday, hosted by Lehigh University. “The women ran great, but the guys just never got going today,” said Rider coach Bob Hamer.

For the Rider men, junior John Smith (Cliffwood Beach/Matawan) placed 111th in the field of 277, finishing the 8,000 meter course in 25:33.

For the Rider women, who finished ahead of rival Monmouth, sophomore Andrea Campbell (Somers Point/Mainland Regional) placed 106th of 237, covering the 6,000 meter course in 22:58.

Freshman Kelsey Kohler (Southampton, PA/St. Basil’s) placed 165th in 23:50, and just next to her, placing 166th also in 23:50 was sophomore Kelly Wojciehowski (Fair Haven/Rumson Fair Haven).

“Our women got out where we discussed about putting themselves in a good position, and they moved well,” said Hamer. “We really moved throughout the race, which was something I stressed to them prior to the meet. I was really impressed with the total effort. If we have this kind of effort consistently for the rest of thee season we’re going to do really, really well. This really bodes well for the future and gives this team a lot of confidence going into the upcoming meets, leading into the conference.”

Sophomore Megan Crowe (Philadelphia, PA/St. Hubert’s) was 192nd in 24:23, freshman Lauren Lester (Schenectady, NY/Mohonasen) was 194th in 24:26, and senior co-captain Laura Carpenter (Englishtown/St. John Vianney) was 212th in 25:08.

“I thought today went really well,” said Carpenter. “We worked really hard over the last three weeks without any meets. We’ve had a lot of time to prepare. The time off of competition was nice to get stronger, but meet time becomes more nerve-racking. Especially with big teams like this.”

On the women’s side there were three top 20 Division I teams with Wisconsin, Princeton and Tennessee, and several nationally ranked Division II and Division III teams. “Running against competition this good really pushes us to do even better. These runners force us to do better.”

Also for the Rider men, junior Jeff Stead (Fairless Hills, PA/Pennsbury) placed 194th overall in 26:48, sophomore Matt Dahl (West Keansburg/Raritan) was 214th in 27:04, freshman Phil Capaldi (Woxsall, PA/Souderton) placed 250th in 27:50, and junior Ryan Donohue was 265th in 28:26.

The men’s division included seven nationally ranked teams from all three NCAA Divisions, including No. 30 Princeton (Division I), Division II’s Lock Haven (No. 9) and Shippensburg (No. 20) and Division III’s Haverford (No. 3), The College of New Jersey (No. 13), Elizabethtown (No. 16) and SUNY Cortland (No. 29). Additionally, Virginia Intermont, who won back-to-back NAIA National Championships in 2004 and 2005.

Rider competes at the Penn State National Invitational October 7.

-RU-