Yale Athletics

The men’s cross country team competed at their second meet of the season at Lehigh University for the annual Paul Short Run on Friday. 

Named after the late Paul Short, who served as Lehigh’s assistant director of athletics for 29 years, the Paul Short Run is one of the largest meets in the country — hosting over 7,000 athletes from more than 600 high schools and colleges every year. 

The Bulldogs competed in the 8K Gold Race and scored a total of 308 points across their top five runners, Owen Karas ’26, Kenan Pala ’26, Daegan Cutter ’27, Braden King ’26 and Guy Stevens ’27. 

On average, Yale’s top five runners finished the 8K in 24 minutes and 7 seconds, combining for a team time of 2 hours and 36 seconds. Karas led the squad with a final time of 23:31.

“Most of the guys improved their times from last year’s race,” Cutter wrote in a text to the News. “Of the 6 Ivys that ran, we beat all but Harvard. This race gave us a lot of confidence moving forward.”

The team’s 11th place finish out of 40 competing programs was a strong start for the Bulldogs and hints at a competitive season that will culminate with the NCAA Cross Country Championships in November. 

“It was a great fall day for cross country,” Ronan Luff ’27 said in an interview Monday. “There wasn’t too much of an emphasis on this race or where we placed as a team, as the real part of the season is just getting underway now.”

Sophomore Seb Sutch ’28 described the weekend as “fair but not outstanding.” 

“We’ve been in a big block of training for the last month so our bodies aren’t quite in tune for a fast race yet,” Sutch said. “In the next few weeks, as training decreases and the weather cools down, we should see a big step up in terms of performance.”

Endurance sports, such as cross country, frequently schedule practice regimens for athletes to peak in performance at certain intervals. Often, high volume training pays off once the season reaches its final stretch. 

The Bulldogs will next race in New Jersey for the Princeton Fall Classic on Oct. 17.