On Thursday, October 2, many district 11 teams competed in the Paul Short Cross Country Invitational. Over 2000 athletes represented hundreds of high school teams from all over the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. Hosted by Lehigh University, the races took place at the Murray H. Goodman Campus, where the University’s athletic facilities are located. Split between two days, the high school races took place on Thursday, and the collegiate races on Friday. The races consisted of three divisions based on the team’s skill level, Gold, Brown, and White, each having a boys and girls race.
With the intensity of the competition and great racing conditions, many athletes were able to secure a personal record and show their true athletic abilities. In the Girl’s gold race, Virginia Kraus, the reigning state champion, from Saucon Valley placed third with a time of 17:12. Madelyn McCartney of Emmaus placed seventh with a time of 17:42, and Elizabeth McClarin of Liberty finished 23rd with a 18:41, all running a new personal best. In the brown division, Juliana Bonham of Wilson placed second with an 18:29 and Harshita Keerthi of Parkland finished third in an 18:34. In the white division, Liv Jusinski of Northampton finished 14th in a time of 20:10.
Like the girls’ races, the boys’ were filled with stunning displays of athleticism. In the gold race, Colin McGuigan of Parkland finished 11th with a time of 15:37 and Miles Etters of Southern Lehigh took 24th with a 15:53. The brown division also showed lots of talent as Jeffrey Sunderlin of Wilson placed sixth in a time of 16:05 and Francesco Carr of Blue Mountain finished 26th in a 16:36. In the white division, Aidan Corcoran of Palisades finished 57th with an 18:00 flat. Out of all the girls teams racing, Easton finished ninth. For the boys teams, Parkland took sixth and Emmaus took seventh.
The Paul Short Invitational was a great opportunity for District 11 teams to compete against each other and get a taste of how the District Cross Country Championships could look for them and their runners individually. This invite is bigger than the Pennsylvania Cross Country State Championships, so the energy and anticipation was unmatched.
