Yale Athletics

This Saturday, the men’s and women’s cross country teams competed against 44 and 43 other collegiate teams, respectively. Both teams performed well against the competitive cohort, with the men’s team finishing eighth and the women’s team finishing seventh. 

Last year, the men’s team took first place overall at the 2023 Paul Short Run. While the Bulldogs did not defend their position, their performance against the large pool of strong teams still promises success in the coming races. 

The women’s team improved significantly from their performance in previous years, earning their best finish since winning the meet in 2018. 

Both teams fielded athletes in the “gold race” and the “open race.” The gold race allows teams to race their 10 best runners in hopes of scoring points toward the overall team results. Other runners can elect to join the open race, providing individual athletes the opportunity to run without contributing to the team result. 

The men’s gold race included ten Bulldogs. Leo Brewer ’25 was Yale’s top scorer, coming in forty-second at 24:16. Kenan Pala ’26 was right behind Brewer with a personal record of 24:25. Daegan Cutter ’27 and Winslow Atkeson ’25 secured the next two scoring positions in 24:28 and 24:29, respectively. Owen Karas ’26 rounded out the runners contributing to Yale’s team score with a time of 24:37, despite expectations to defend his role as Yale’s top Paul Short Run scorer.

The women’s gold race included nine Bulldogs. Claire Archer ’26 was Yale’s top scorer, coming in thirteenth with a personal record of 20:22. Linde Fonville ’26 followed close behind her with a time of 20:56. Charlotte Whitehurst ’26 rounded out the team’s strongest performances in seventy-fourth place with a time of 21:12. 

The open races included eight runners from the men’s team and three runners from the women’s team. Of these, Ronan Luff ’27 came in with a personal record of 24:50, placing eighteenth. Zoe Martonfi ’28 and Anna Chamberlin ’26 placed in the top 30. 

Harvard showed a strong performance and finished ahead of Yale in both the men’s and women’s gold race. Cornell also beat out the men’s team, while Princeton finished ahead of the women’s team. Yale bested Brown, Columbia, Dartmouth and Penn. 

The Bulldogs will head to Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx for the IC4A and ECAC Cross Country Championships on Oct. 18 with a few runners set to compete at the Pre-Nationals Meet on Oct. 19 in Madison, Wisconsin, as well.

MEGAN KERNIS