Select members of the Middlebury men's and women's cross country teams participated in the College Open Brown races as part of the 43rd annual Paul Short Run hosted by Lehigh (Pa.). The Paul Short run, one of the largest meets in the nation with more than 6,000 athletes from over 450 competing teams, was contested Saturday on the Goodman Cross Country Course. Taking part in races filled with teams from Division I as well some Division II and III representatives, the eighth-ranked Panther women finished fourth of 42 teams competing with 205 points, while the men were seventh of 45 with 256.

In the men's race featuring 400 racers, Brian Rich earned the top Middlebury finish with an 21st-place effort in 25:10. Ascencion Aispuro was the next to cross in 33rd (25:21), while Connor Evans was 47th with a time of 25:29. Kevin Serrao and Brendan Wood completed the scorers on the men's side in 60th (25:35) and 95th (25:51), respectively.

During the women's 6K race with 373 entries, Abigail Nadler was the first Panther woman to cross the finish line in the tightly-run race with a sixth-place effort (21:08). Katherine MacCary was the next to end her race in 45th (22:10), while Sasha Whittle stopped the clock in 22:16 for 50th place. With identical times in a sprint at the finish line, Erzsie Nagy was 51st and Meg Wilson rounded out the scorers in 53rd. 

The Panthers will have two weeks off from competition before they take part on Saturday, October 15 in the Connecticut College Invitational.