Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
Paul Short Invitational
Cross Country Takes 14th at Paul Short Run
October 04, 2014 | Men's Cross Country
Oct. 4, 2014
BETHLEHEM, PA – The Army men’s cross country team took a 14th overall finish at the Paul Short Run, led by Trevor Lafontaine and Tom Girardot’s 65th and 66th place finishes.
Lafontaine crossed the line in 24:53, claiming 65th place as Army’s top finisher for the fourth consecutive race. Girardot followed at 24:54, taking 66th place.
Cody Barger was the Black Knights’ No. 3 runner, crossing the line at 25:05 to take 84th place. The team’s No. 4 runner was Drew Beck, who completed Lehigh’s course in 25:26, followed by Alex Duffy in 136th place with a time of 25:30.
Captain Nathan Fisher took 152nd place as Army’s No. 6 runner with a time of 25:36, while Andreas Kellas rounded out the team’s top seven with a 159th place time of 25:39.
Also competing for the Black Knights was Matt Bearden who claimed 163rd place with a time of 25:40, Nick Causey who took 186th overall with a time of 25:47 and Ryan Smathers in 211th place with a time of 25:55.
"I thought our men competed well and ran to their potential," head coach Mike Smith said. "One of the things that you hope to see as the season progresses is that people perform to their ability level, and we did that today. We can improve and we will.
If we do a good job of taking care of the little things we can hop to compare more favorably against our opponents in the future. The guys are focused so we will continue to work hard on getting better and see what happens."
The race attracted 42 teams with more than 350 runners competing in the “College Gold” race, which boasts the most challenging competition.
Navy finished first, followed by the University of Guelph (Ontario, Can.) and Adams State in the top three. Yale, Iona and Georgetown rounded out the top five, followed by Buffalo, St. Joseph’s, Lehigh and Canisius in the top 10.
The men will wrap up the regular season on Oct. 18 when they head to Annapolis, Md. for the Star meeting with Navy. The men won last year’s Star matchup on their home course. The Patriot League Championships will follow on Nov. 1, with NCAA Regionals to get underway on Nov. 14 from Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, N.Y.
Players Mentioned
