Bethlehem, Pa. – The Stony Brook men's and women's cross country teams are back in action this Saturday as they travel to Bethlehem, Pa. for the Paul Short Run.   
 
The Seawolves will compete against forty-three teams: five that are nationally -ranked, six that are ranked in the top fifteen and three from the America East. The day will begin with the men's 8K at 11 a.m. followed by the women's 6K at 11:45 a.m.
 
"The Paul Short Invitational is one [of] the high profile invitationals on the east coast," said head coach Andy Ronan. "This is the 43rd year the event has been held. Each year it attracts nationally and regionally ranked teams from across the country and this year is no different. It is going to be a big test for both our squads," said Ronan.
 
"Saturday is the real start of the season. How we compete as a team and how each individual competes on Saturday is going to give us a strong indication of what type of team we are going to be during the championship phase that will come at the end of October, early November, " continued Ronan.
 
 "We are coming off a good period of training, now it is time for us to get out and race, so we can get a good feel for where we are at fitness wise. This week we spoke about each athlete being focused on running their own race, as that is the only one they can control. The keys will be, not panicking at the start, and staying focused as the race develops. We talked about the need to put themselves in position to be able to finish strong over the last third of the race. Our expectation would be that, if we run well, to achieve a top 10 spot, but overall a top 15 finish for each team would be a strong platform to build off for the rest of the season," said Ronan.
 
"[The] women's team will be led by Christine Eisenberg, Liz Caldwell and Annika Sisson with strong support expected from Alexandria Ortega, Clodagh O'Reilly, Megan Cooney and Talia Guevara".
 
"[The] men's squad will have Cameron Avery, Danny Connelly and Nick Cruz as the front group, with Bryce Hedman, Vann Moffett, Ben McDermott, Darian Sorouri, Kyle Kelly and Andrew Bearkland looking to contribute to the overall team performance".