Ramsey, Saints Impress at 2009 Paul Short Invitational

by: 

Tara Freeman

Senior Geoff Millard (right) was the Saints' fifth scorer at the Paul Short Invitational.

Oct. 2: Both the St. Lawrence University men's cross country team and junior captain Dan Ramsey continued their momentum at the 2009 Paul Short Invitational hosted by Lehigh University on Friday.  The Saints finished in 35^th place out of 42 squads in the inter-divisional championship race, while Ramsey finished in 60^th position overall out of 386 competitors.

The Paul Short Invitational is widely considered one of the most prolific cross country races in the country.  Teams from Division I, II and III compete in three flights with the gold competition serving as the "championship" race.  Both the St. Lawrence men's and women's teams raced in that tier.

"I'm very happy with the way we ran today, as we really held our own against some of the best athletes in the country," said St. Lawrence head coach John Newman.  "Running in a race of this magnitude will only benefit us as we look to defend our conference championship next weekend."

Ramsey led the Scarlet and Brown with a 60^th place showing with a time of 24:41 on the 8k course.  He was followed by junior Jeremy Mwenda in 146^th position in 25:15 and sophomore Seth Jackson in 232^nd place with a time of 25:38.

Seniors Terrence Fox and Geoff Millard rounded out the team's top-five scorers in 237^th and 254^th places, respectively.  Fox ran in 25:40 while Millard followed nine seconds later to cap the team's scoring at 860 points.

Also representing St. Lawrence in the Paul Short Invitational included senior Jacob Malcomb (280^th, 26:01), rookie Sam Rakoc (300^th, 26:09), senior Jeremy Beaudette (311^th, 26:15) and sophomore Andrew Goodwin (365^th, 27:01).

The Indiana University Hoosiers won the gold race with a total of 44 points.  North Carolina State's Ryan Hill edged Jason Weller of Iona College by a second to win the individual crown behind a time of 23:40.

With its 35^th place showing, St. Lawrence defeated UVM, Plattsburgh State, Coastal Carolina, Virginia Military Institute, Loyola, University of Maryland and Villanova University.

The Saints will look to claim their 16^th consecutive Liberty League title next weekend when they host the conference race at the Ronald C. Hoffmann Cross Country course.  The men's race is slated to begin at 1:00pm on Saturday, October 10^th.