Men's, Women's Cross Country Finish 13th at Paul Short Invitational

One squad relied on depth; the other relied on experience. But when all was said and done, both the Harvard men’s and women’s cross country teams notched 13th-place finishes at the Paul Short Invitational this past weekend, hosted by Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa.

With many of the squad’s elite runners held out of competition for the week, the men’s team put its deep roster on display at the invite. Toeing the line against one of the largest fields it will see all season, the relatively inexperienced Crimson squad scored 421 points to finish just two behind 12th-place Duquesne University.

On the women’s side, some familiar faces led the way for Harvard. Junior Morgan Kelly was the team’s first finisher, coming in 26th place with a time of 21:00. The women’s squad tallied 414 points en route to its 13th-place showing.

In the absence of classmates Maksim Korolev and James Leakos, who finished in first and second place, respectively, at the Harvard-Yale dual meet two weekends ago, junior Kurt Ruegg paced the Crimson men on Friday.

Ruegg crossed the finish line in 24:37 to come in 25th.

“Kurt’s put in a great summer of training,” Harvard coach Jason Saretsky said. “He’s really fit, and I think he’s only going to get faster as the season goes.... It’s really exciting.”

Saretsky said that the men’s top seven finishers from the Harvard-Yale meet, including Korolev, Leakos, and senior Jakob Lindaas, were held out of Friday’s race to avoid overuse and injury.

“We’ve got a long season ahead of us,” Saretsky said. “The meets that matter most, the meets that count, are at the end of the season. We’re gearing everyone up for that. I feel really good with where we’re at.”

Behind Ruegg for the Harvard men was freshman Thomas Purnell, who finished 41st with a time of 24:52.

“I thought [Purnell] had a great, great showing,” Saretsky said. “Going under 25 minutes in his first 8k is a great way to start the season.”

Despite his impressive finish, the rookie’s collegiate debut was not as seamless as it appears on paper.

“At one point, [Purnell] passed me and was like, ‘How much [distance] is left?’” Saretsky said. “He was running like a freshman out there, but as he gets more races under his belt, I think he’ll really come into his own.”

Classmate Christopher Allen was 45 seconds behind Purnell, covering the 8k course in 25:37.

“The entire freshman class has done an outstanding job of handling the transition [to college competition],” Saretsky said.

Rounding out the scoring for the Crimson were senior Sean Pohorence and sophomore Andy Gonzalez, who placed 114th and 133rd, respectively.

The rainy weather in Bethlehem leading up to the invitational made for unfavorable racing conditions. Runners had to find steady footing as they navigated the muddy five- and eight-kilometer trails on Lehigh’s Goodman Campus Course.

“It had rained heavily the night before and morning of the race, so the all-grass course was extremely muddy and slippery,” sophomore Alaina Alvarez said. “The course itself was moderately challenging and increasingly hilly, finishing [with] the last 2k mostly uphill.”

Alvarez and the rest of the women’s team had a solid outing at the invitational as well. Though the squad was outclassed by Ancient Eight rival Cornell, which won the women’s title with 55 points, one member of the team turned in possibly the best outing of her collegiate career.

“Morgan Kelly had an outstanding, breakthrough performance,” Saretsky said. “I’m really proud of how she performed.”

Saretsky said that Kelly, who has consistently been one of the Crimson’s top runners, was nursing a cold last week but was able to shake off the symptoms and compete in the race.

The other scoring runners for the Harvard women included Alvarez and classmates Viviana Hanley and Whitney Thornburg and senior Briana Jackucewicz, who finished in 61st, 70th, 155th, and 102nd places, respectively.

The Paul Short Invitational gave the Crimson teams a chance to race against nearly 700 runners competed at the meet.

“It was a tremendously large field,” Saretsky said. “It’s a great experience for our team. To have that under our belt is going to set us up really well for the rest of the season.”

—Staff writer Dominic A. Martinez can be reached at dmartinez@college.harvard.edu.