The Bison cross country team traveled to Lehigh University on Sept. 29 to compete in the Paul Short Run. The men’s team finished in 28th place with a score of 727 points.

On the women’s side, in her season debut, Jenna Farmer ’19 finished among the top runners for the Orange and Blue. Despite missing the first three races of the season due to injury, Farmer finished 69th with a time of 23:06 in a field of 362 runners on the 6k Goodman cross country course.

Emma Dolen ’20 also enjoyed a strong performance, finishing with a time of 23:20, which landed her 77th place. Dolen joined Farmer in the top 100 spots. In the Open Race, Tia Tardy ’21 secured 90th place in a field of 368 runners.

“Paul Short was a great race to show off our depth,” Dolen said. “Although the course was crowded and muddy — other runners even lost shoes in the mud — our team really persevered and fought through it all. For me this year, I have been focusing on both physical and mental consistency and I am excited that I am finally starting to see it come together in races.”

On the men’s side, Matt Vira ’20 led the way for the Bison, clocking in at 26:27 for a 76th place finish in a field of 367 runners. Among the other top-five Bison runners were Scott Gulizio ’19 (138th), Landin Delaney ’19 (153rd), Matthew Cervon ’22 (169th), and Brian Babyak ’19 (204th).

Next up for the Bison is the Penn State National Open on Oct. 12.