Pavlus, Hulton Pace Saints to 21st Place at Paul Short Invitational

by: 

Tara Freeman

Junior Wendy Pavlus ran a personal-best time of 21:16 at the Paul Short Invitational.

Oct. 2: St. Lawrence University junior Wendy Pavlus and sophomore Jenna Hulton each ran personal-best times on Friday, leading the No. 10 Saints' women's cross country team to 21^st place overall out of nearly 120 teams at the 2009 Paul Short Invitational hosted by Lehigh University.

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.

Pavlus was the top St. Lawrence and Division III runner at Friday's event with a fantastic time of 21:16, while Hulton followed only eight seconds later (21:24) for a 40^th place finish out of 362 competitors.  The duo was the top two Division III runners in the event and anchored the team's final score of 572 points.

"This race gave our ladies a chance to gauge their progress this season, and we're very satisfied with our finish," said St. Lawrence head coach Mike Howard.  "This is a great confidence booster and should prepare us well for the championship races ahead of us."

St. Lawrence's team showing was second overall amongst Division III programs, finishing only behind the top-ranked team in the country, Johns Hopkins, by a mere 70 points.

Senior captain Johannah Ludington and first-year student Jackie Lemme each delivered solid performances on Friday as well.  Ludington was 116^th overall with a time of 22:05, while Lemme continued her impressive season by finishing 200^th overall (22:41).  Senior Hillary St. John capped the team's scoring in 225^th place (22:55).

Other St. Lawrence representatives in the 2009 Paul Short Invitational included sophomores McKayla Nuffer (267^th, 23:13) and Jenny Kaagan (313^th, 23:48), rookie Andrea Maynard (336^th, 24:14) and junior Megan Derby (342^nd, 24:23).

The West Virginia University Mountaineers won the event with 105 point, narrowly defeating the University of Guelph (127).  Sophomore Neely Spence of Shippensburg University claimed in the individual title with a time of 19:58.

With its 21^st place showing, St. Lawrence defeated several prominent national programs including George Washington University, Colgate University, the University of South Florida, the University of Delaware, the University of Maryland, Massachusetts and Coastal Carolina.

The Saints will look to claim their 8^th consecutive Liberty League title next weekend when they host the conference race at the Ronald C. Hoffmann Cross Country course.  The women's race is slated to begin at 12:00pm on Saturday, October 10^th.