BETHLEHEM, Pa. — 

The U.S. Coast Guard Academy men's cross country team competed at the Paul Short Run on Friday, hosted by Lehigh University, placing 31st among the 45-team field.

The Paul Short is one of the largest and most prestigious cross country meets in the United States, drawing over 160 men's teams from across all three NCAA divisions to Lehigh's Goodman Campus Course. The Bears competed in the White division, which is reserved for Division III teams holding national or regional rankings. Coast Guard was ranked 8th in the most recent USTFCCCA men's Mideast Region coaches poll.

The Bears tallied 883 points in a highly competitive field. The top five were the same as their last race two weeks ago at Wesleyan University, with team captain Paul Hobbs (Vacaville, Calif.) taking 57th overall at 25:25. Next was local legend Brendan Fant (East Lyme, Conn.), who clocked an even 26:00 for 130th. Jamed Kuduk (Harleysville, Pa.) was the third Bear to finish, taking 204th in the field with his 26:33.

Freshman Graham Fenn (Hyattsville, Md.) and sophomore Sam Myers (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.) were close to each other much of the race, with Fenn finishing in 27:21 and Myers in 27:26. Finishing sixth for Coast Guard was Miles Taylor (Austin, Tex.) who notched a new personal best of 27:42 with his performance, while Jack Cura (Cape May, N.J.) rounded out the scorers with a 28:08.

Several Bears also ran in the Open division race, which saw sophomores Malachi Morris (Chino Hills, Calif.) and Andrew Rowan (Towson, Md.) both set personal records of 27:27 and 28:04, respectively.

"We had an up and down meet," remarked head coach Greg Ahnrud. "The men ran intelligent races and put themselves in a good spot to move up as the race unfolded, but I think there was just a bit too much fatigue in their legs from a big couple of weeks of training, so they weren't able to close out the second half of the race as well as we were aiming for. This was still a solid result for the team, considering how strong a field of competition we were up against, but we'll need to continue to improve if we're going to close out the regular season where we want to be."

Bears men's cross country gets another two weeks rest before they tackle another meet, but they'll get to stay close by for this next one: the Connecticut College Invitational, taking place at Harkness Memorial State Park in nearby Waterford and hosted by their Dromedary rivals from next door. Coast Guard placed 21st in a 36-team field last year, with Hobbs leading the way in 100th place at 26:04.