Army West Point Athletics
Army West Point
Paul Short Invitational
Men's Cross Country Tabs 21st Place Finish at Paul Short Invite
October 01, 2022 | Men's Cross Country
| MEET 3 | |
|---|---|
| PLACEMENT | 21st of 46 teams |
| DISTANCE | 8K |
| LOCATION | Goodman Campus Cross Country Course - Bethlehem, Pa. |
BETHLEHEM, Pa – Army West Point men's cross-country competed amongst 45 other programs at Goodman Campus Cross Country Course in the Paul Short Invitational hosted by Lehigh University. The Black Knights came in 21st as a team, led by Garrett Gough who placed 42nd individually. The University of North Carolina claimed the top spot at the meet, with Villanova coming in second place.
Gough continued to pace the Black Knights, with a time of 23:35.3 to place in the top-50 among over 400 runners. His time was tops among Patriot League runners and was a new school-record at the course.
Captain Matthew Porter made his season debut for the Black Knights, posting a time of 24:11 to place 114th. Thomas Vo was close behind with a time of 24:22.7 for a 141st-place showing as the duo earned 108 and 134 points respectively.
Luke Lusskin continued his fine running with a top-160 finish that featured a 24:28.6 time. Nathan Davis and Erick Lara collected scores for Army as well, crossing the finish-line together with times of 24:43.4 and 24:34.5.
A full list of results for this meet can be found HERE.
Coach's Corner
The competitive depth of this meet was at an all-time high. We had some good performances out there but not enough to place as high as I think we can. We beat 25 teams, but 20 teams beat us. The guys ran with a good deal of purpose and discipline but so did all our opponents. In then, it was the fastest race that has ever been run at the Paul Short meet. Garrett Gough led us today. He ran a controlled race and measured his effort well. He kept moving up throughout and ended up with the fastest time that has ever been run by an Army runner on this course. I suspect that the weather and ideal conditions had something to do with that but it is also true that Garrett is in great shape and will be a force the rest of the year. He was followed by Matt Porter and Thomas Vo. Both of those guys were making their season debut and although it was obvious that they were a little rusty, they handled the race quite well and were rewarded with the best times of their careers. Luke Lusskin was our 4th today and his race was a significant improvement from anything we have ever seen from him. He is a great example of the value of discipline as he has committed himself to the type of training that would set him up for a race like today. He stood tall out there for his team and was our number 3 for much of the race. If he can continue to run with consistency, we will be a good team by the end of the year. Erik Lara and Nathan Davis rounded out our scoring today. Erik was a top performer for us last year and he brought that competitive mindset to the meet today and carried Nathan for much of the race. Nathan Davis took a big step forward out there today. He showed some real grit and was moving up much of the race. I think we are going to see some good things from him this year. In the end I would have liked to have beaten some more teams today. We were good but not quite good enough. The guys know what they have to do and are ready to get back to work next week.
Up Next
Army will take on the Naval Academy next on Saturday, October 15 from Annapolis, MD.
Players Mentioned
