Carolina Takes First in 40-Team Paul Short Run Field

Friday, October 1

Bethlehem, Pa.

11 AM

North Carolina

Paul Short Run (men)

The Tar Heels earned the team title Friday at the Paul Short Run.

Photo by: Tom Connelly

October 1, 2021 | Cross Country

Results

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The North Carolina men's cross country team took first place at the prestigious Paul Short Run at Lehigh University on Friday morning, beating a 40-team field with a team total of 56 points. Three Tar Heels placed in the top 10 over the 8K course, with Parker Wolfe fifth, Jack Aho eighth and John Tatter 10^th. Two more were in the top 20, with Will Coogan 14^th and Marshall Williamson 19^th, giving the Tar Heels just a 12.9 second spread among their top five.

Second-place Villanova, which is tied with UNC at No. 23 in this week's national rankings, was just one point off the Carolina pace at 57, with Princeton (74), No. 16 Utah State (77) and Stony Brook (210) rounding out the top five. Twelfth-ranked Iona was also part of the field and finished 17^th overall.

"Today was another huge step forward for our guys," UNC Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Chris Miltenberg said. "I'm really excited about the way our guys raced – it got hard early and they hung together so well. We won this on depth and every guy fighting hard where they were."

The win was the third in three opportunities for the UNC men's team this season, but Friday's was by far the largest event. The Men's Gold 8K, the top race, included 356 runners.

UNC opened the season with a win on Sept. 3 in a dual meet with Charlotte, then won the eight-team Adidas XC Challenge on Sept. 17. Next up for the Tar Heels is the Nuttycombe Invitational on Oct. 15 in Madison, Wisc. After that, UNC looks toward the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship on Oct. 29 at Notre Dame.

"We are climbing each week and continuing to plant seeds for the future," said Miltenberg, whose team is in the national rankings for the first time since 2015. "It's an exciting and fun spot for our program to be."

Paul Short Run • Bethlehem, Pa.
Hosted by Lehigh University

Men's College Gold 8K
UNC results
5. Parker Wolfe, 23:38.9
8. Jack Aho, 23:39.9
10. John Tatter, 23:41.4
14. Will Coogan, 23:48.5
19. Marshall Williamson, 23:51.7
43. Ethan Strand, 24:17.2
46. Jesse Hunt, 24:18.4
75. Michael Spragley, 24:33.5
153. Crawford Hope, 25:10.4

Open Men's 8K
UNC results
28. Andrew Lauer, 25:30.1
36. Jason Thomson, 25:34.7
57. Tommy Gaffey, 25:47.4