By: Kate Wiggins
This past weekend, the Canisius cross country team competed at the very competitive Paul Short Invitational in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania hosted by Lehigh University, with the men taking 30th place and the women finishing 22nd in the team standings.
Taking the lead for the men yet again, junior Tom Appenheimer led the Griffs in the men’s Gold 8K, with a time of 21:23.4. Appenheimer placed 94th out of the 357 runners, while junior Andrew Pereualt was the second Griff to cross the finish line in 119th place with a time of 24:55.7. As a whole, the men’s team finished 30th out of 40 teams.
Senior Libby Benzer came in the lead for Canisius in the women’s Brown 6K, finishing in 14th place with a time of 21:41.3. Benzer placed 14th out of 342 runners. Junior Oliva Moran was the next best Griff placing wise, with a finishing time of 23:24.3. Freshman Taylor Heschke came in close behind with a time of 23:27.9.
There was no doubt that this was a high level and competitive event. Some larger schools and programs posed a challenge for the Griffs, but there is no question that the team didn’t put their best foot forward to compete with schools like North Carolina, Princeton, Utah State, and Miami.
The Canisius cross country team will be staying home this weekend as they host the Canisius Alumni Classic on October 16.