Men’s Cross Country Takes 19th at Paul Short Invite

Stats

Sept. 28 – (BETHLEHEM, Pa.) – The #14 ranked Carnegie Mellon men’s cross country team had their first real test of the 2007 season, racing at the Paul Short Invitational hosted by Lehigh University. The men had their top seven racing in the “Varsity A” race against stiff Division I and Division III competition and seven more competing in the “Junior Varsity” race against more Division I and Division III runners later in the afternoon. The Tartans placed 19th in the eight kilometer “Varsity A” race with 599 points. Villanova won the race with 50 points.

The Tartans were fifth among Division III teams in the 270 runner “A” race, losing to #4 SUNY Cortland, #8 Haverford, #22 Allegheny, and #20 TCNJ. The relatively flat and fast course allowed every Tartan runner to come close to and in some cases set personal best times. Junior Brian Harvey (Ellicott City, Md./Centennial) led the Tartans with a time of 25:44, good for 86th place overall. Sophomore Dario Donatelli (Pittsburgh, Pa./Central Catholic) set a personal best with a time of 25:58 (111th overall) and junior Breck Fresen (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Stevenson) finished in a personal best of 25:59 (115th).

Senior Geoff Misek (Goodrich, Mich.) was fourth on the team and 140th overall with a time of 26:11 and freshman J.P. Allera (Columbia, Md./Wilde Lake) ran a personal best time of 26:13, finishing in 147th place.

Senior Mark Tressler (Pittsburgh, Pa./South Park) and junior Ryan Anderson (Orchard Park, N.Y.) both ran personal bests, with Tressler running 26:26 (167th overall) and Anderson crossing the line in 26:31 (178th overall).

The “Junior Varsity” race later in the afternoon contained 443 participants. The unscored race saw the seven Carnegie Mellon runners put forth a strong showing. Freshman Justin Kurp (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional) ran a huge personal best of 26:41 en route to finishing 48th overall. Fellow freshman Josh Eickmeier (O’Fallon, Ill./O’Fallon Township) made huge strides in his second collegiate race, finishing 86th with a time of 27:06.

Junior Mike Condon (Bend, Ore./Mountain View) placed 103rd, crossing the line in a personal best time of 27:18. Freshman Dan Addis (Malvern, Pa./Great Valley), running near his hometown, placed 121st in a personal best time of 27:27 and senior Dan Carmody (San Diego, Calif./Thomas Jefferson) crossed the line in a personal best time of 27:31 (126th overall).

Senior Doug Fricker (West Lafayette, IN) was sixth on the team and 158th in the race with a personal best time of 27:54 and sophomore Chris Rizzo (Attleboro, Mass./Bishop Feehan) placed 171st in 28:03 in a gutsy effort running through an asthma attack.

The men’s cross country will next be in action on Saturday, October 13 when they host the Carnegie Mellon Invitational in Schenley Park. The entire squad will race in the CMU Invite, the last race before the roster gets narrowed to ten for the University Athletic Association Championships held in late October.