A sprint to the end: TU places 26th in Paul Short Invitational
By: Annette Arceneaux, Contributing Writer
Towson placed 26th out of 45 teams Saturday at the 43rd annual Paul Short Run hosted by Lehigh in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
In the College Women’s Gold 6K event, sophomore runner Allison Marella led the Tigers with a time of 21:31. Following Marella, sophomore Hannah Walter finished with a time of 21:32.
“When a runner went down it was juniors Colleen Cook and Emily Johnson who really stepped up,” Head Coach Mike Jackson said. “That really helped us have a better day.”
Cook came in with a time of 22:17 and Johnson finished with a time of 22:22.
Senior Megan Knoblock recorded a time of 21:40, and sophomore Abby Gauthier finished with a time of 22:40.
Sophomore runner Shelby Bobbie finished TU’s set with a time of 22:13, leaving the Tigers with an overall time of 1:49:22.
“This is one of the bigger races in the country,” Jackson said. “As a team, we did really well.”
In the Open Women’s 6K Event, the Tigers were led by sophomore Megan Lindstrom. Lindstrom finished the run with a time of 23:31.
Behind Lindstrom were junior Kara Mueser and freshman Kaylee Ryan, who finished with times of 24:35 and 24:39, respectively.
Sophomore runner Jenna Donohue and freshman runner Melissa Graham rounded out the event for the Tigers finishing with a time of 25:08 and 29:09, respectively.
Jackson attributes the Tigers’ success to good training and good health. Their training regime focuses on increasing mileage and pace.
“When you have athletes who are doing well, you get an opportunity to continue to improve,” Jackson said. “Then you are also able to gain some confidence. I think that the team is really coming together in that regard.”
Towson will run at Penn State Nationals on Friday, Oct. 14, where Jackson will look for the top eight athletes to run in the Mid-Atlantic Regionals on Nov. 11.
“We’re excited about the next opportunity,” Jackson said.