Kyra Gerber placed 53rd with a new personal best time in the 47th annual Paul Short Run competition at Lehigh University Friday.
The Shippensburg University women’s cross country team took to the Lehigh University course for 6K competition.
READ: SU sports: Cross country claims team title
Setting new records
Shippensburg was paced by Gerber, a senior, (Dillsburg, Pa./Northern York), who set a new collegiate best for 6K with a 53rd-place time of 22:27.9. Gerber, who was running her 11th collegiate cross country 6K, posted a time that is 15 seconds faster than her effort at the 2019 NCAA Atlantic Region Championships. Her performance was 43 seconds faster than her last time at the Paul Short Run (23:10 in 2019).
Junior Isabelle Gulgert (Herndon, Va./South Lakes) also broke the 23-minute mark, crossing the finish line in 64th place with a time of 22:39.1 as the No. 2 Raider runner. Gulgert improved her time from the 2019 Paul Short Run by 18 seconds.
Graduate Lyndsey Payne (Mansfield, Pa./North-Penn Mansfield (Mansfield)) served as Shippensburg’s No. 3 runner and also achieved a collegiate best for 6K. Payne placed 103rd with a time of 23:03.7 – which is nine seconds faster than the time that she posted at the 2019 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Championships while running for Mansfield.
Seniors Sydney Morgan (Ephrata, Pa./Ephrata) and Jade Fry (Harveys Lake, Pa./Lake-Lehman) finished within four places of each other and served as the fourth and fifth scoring runners for the Raiders. Morgan posted a time of 25:14, while Fry crossed the line one second later. Junior Amanda LaVana (Emmaus, Pa./Emmaus) ran 25:22.
The ‘Brown’ race
The Raiders competed in the “Brown” race – the second of three tiers of competition. SU placed 26th in the team standings. Five women raced during the morning in open competition.
Among the notable schools in competition was Dickinson, who placed second in the team standings behind race champion Miami (Fla.). Bloomsburg finished 16th, while Lock Haven placed 27th.
Shippensburg will now train for the next three weeks in advance of the 2021 PSAC Women’s Cross Country Championships, to be held Friday, Oct. 22 at Kutztown University.
Brown Race (6K)
26th, 676 points
53. Kyra Gerber 22:27.9
64. Isabelle Gulgert 22:39.1
103. Lyndsey Payne 23:03.7
285. Sydney Morgan 25:14.3
288. Jade Fry 25:15.8
295. Amanda LaVana 25:22.4
311. Sadie Hostler 25:54.9
Open (6K)
210. Shelby Hay 26:03.4
213. Lydia Heisey 26:06.6
268. Taylor Thomas 28:12.7
271. Laura Laughlin 28:25.7
279. Annabel Koza 29:31.2
