The cross country team took on over 30 other teams last Friday in the Paul Short Invitational hosted by Lehigh University. The women’s team took home a seventh-place finish out of 39 teams in the 6K, while the men finished 17th out of 38 in the 8K.
On the women’s side of the competition, senior Liz Borah crossed the line 34th out of over 300 competitors (21:50.2), leading the way for the Leopards for the third straight meet.
“It was a little bit nerve-racking at the beginning, trying to get into position,” Borah said. “But as the race went on, it was much easier to move up.”
Sophomore Anya Kazemi followed with a 51st-place finish (22:04.8). Not far behind were junior Ava Severino in 60th (22:11.1) and freshman Hazel Calway in 63rd (22:17.0), and the top five was capped off by an 84th-place performance by freshman Braelyn Graham (22:32.5).
According to Borah, the mental aspect of running has been one of her main focuses and has paid dividends towards her progression throughout the years.
“I definitely felt a lot more confident in the second half of the race,” she said. “Just being able to pass more people, and especially in that last 1,000 meters, I remember feeling really strong.”
On the men’s side, senior Justin Brown was the first Leopard to cross the finish line for the third meet of the row, placing 31st (25:13.9). The Maroon and White took 30 seconds to claim another finisher, this time, senior Titan Casey in 72nd (25:44.1).
Sophomore David Whitford finished third for the Leopards in 111th (26:12.1). Rounding out the top five for the men were sophomore Cole Scattergood (26:24.9) and senior Cole Chukoskie (26:30.2), who placed 139th and 150th, respectively.
Brown said that it “feels good” to see his hard work pay off in the meets and have some of the younger runners on the team look up to him. He also stressed the importance of the mental side of running, similar to Borah.
“I’m fighting the urge that my brain is telling me to stop running,” Brown said. “I try to remember that I’m leading a team. I’m doing it for them. And that helps me to push through.”
George Washington University took the victory in both events, finishing with a score of 47 for the men and 99 for the women.
Both teams will have two weeks of downtime before competing in the ECAC/IC4A Championships, on Oct. 17 in Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, New York.
Borah said that next week “will be another opportunity to practice what we’ve been talking about for racing and just getting ready for Patriot Leagues.”