Previewing the Paul Short Invitational
September 30, 2008 | Men's Cross Country
In its 35th year of existence, the Paul Short Invitational at Lehigh University (Bethlehem, PA) has been recognized as one of the biggest cross-country meets in the nation. On Friday, the Badgers will be one of 300 colleges and high schools to take part in this 8k course around the campus. This will be the first time that UW will compete in this race so they will look to make a big impact after placing ninth last weekend at the Sean Earl Invite at Loyola University (Chicago, Ill.).
Head coach Mick Byrne has worked hard with the top runners on the squad in order to train them for the long run because for some of the runners it's their first race of the 2008 season.
'We are ready to run in a race of over forty Division I teams and truly being tested early on in the season ' Byrne said. 'I'm interested to see how our team can improve from September into October, especially with runners like Christian Wagner and Craig Miller. I think they have the ability to step up alongside Ryan Craven, Landon Peacock and Ryan Gasper to be that supporting cast for Stu Eagon and Matt Withrow.'
Out of the 42 Division I colleges running in the event, No. 6 Wisconsin will compete against No. 4 Iona College and No. 26 Villanova. Villanova has won the event the past two years, beating Syracuse by 34 points in 2007 and Pittsburgh by 63 points in 2006. Under Mick Byrne, Iona College placed No. 8 in 2007, so the coach has good experience at this particular course as he eagerly attempts to win with a new team.
'It will be fun to run against Iona again after a long history as their coach' Byrne said. 'I am very excited, but at the same time focused on beating the competition because there are a lot of strong teams competing.'
Out of the 4,000 runners taking part in the invitational throughout the day, Wisconsin will race seven of their top runners. Featured in the race will be senior Christian Wagner, junior Craig Miller, sophomore Landon Peacock, sophomore Ryan Craven, junior Ryan Gasper, freshman Elliot Krause and sophomore Jack Bolas. Seniors Stu Eagon and Matt Withrow are both nursing injuries that are not serious, however Byrne wants to be safe and rest them for future competition.
The competition is set to begin on Friday, October 3rd at 11am when the Division I-III colleges will start the day of running. Following the men will be the women's race, where the UW women's team will compete and look to knock off Princeton University as the Tigers look for their third-straight Paul Short Championship. For the complete schedule of the Paul Short Invitational and more information concerning the race, click here .
