Above: Last Year's Paul Short Run saw Brian DiCola break the Meet Record
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Its almost time for one of the biggest races of the year, the Lehigh University Paul Short Run will featured some of the most talented teams and individuals in the region. High School races are scheduled to get underway at 3:30 PM
Teams to Watch: MD #1 & US #23 Calvert Hall, MD #4 Howard High, MD #6 Loyola Blakefield, PA #1 Episcopal Academy, PA #6 Manheim Township, PA #8 Penncrest, PA #10 Parkland, PA #11 Hershey, PA #17 Lower Merion, PA #19 Ridley, Morgantown (WV).
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11 State or Nationally ranked boys programs will battle on the tumultuous Paul Short course
Of them - MD #1 Calvert Hall and PA #1 Episcopal Academy will spotlight an intense team fight. Calvert Hall recently ascended to a US No. 23 rank after winning the adidas XC Challenge.
The team posted a robust 15:38 average with a 1:16 compression. Cameron Davis and Rei Rahsaan Nettey led the way for the team, notching times of 14:59 and 15:22.2, respectively.
So what does Episcopal Academy have? Well, we're still waiting to see. We were supposed to get our first authentic look at the team last weekend, but Tropical Storm Ophelia had better ideas.
But here's what we do know - they won the White Race last year with a 15:42 average. On paper, they graduated three seniors from that squad, but I'm not sure if they're hitting the panic button.
Michael Woolery and Dawson French should be the team's two front-runners - and realistically, they can both break 15:20 (pending course conditions). They then have Ethan Zhou, Curtis Conner, and Eli Engelman completing the team's Top 5. Engelman, a 4:23 miler, should have what it takes to run mid-15s.
Don't overlook PA #6 Manheim Township or PA #8 Penncrest. We saw Manheim Township finish second at PIAA Foundation (3A) behind a strong trio, plus they won this race a year ago. We haven't necessarily seen Penncrest at full force, and this could be a break-out race for the squad.
In the White Race, watch Monroe Woodbury who finished runner-up to Episcopal in 2022. Twin Valley should also have an excellent showing in that race.
All eyes will be on Pajak and Whitaker for the Individual Title
US No. 15 Ryan Pajak (Ringgold) and US No. 37 Colin Whitaker (Lampeter Strasburg) are slated for their first clash of the year. Ironically, these two also recently committed to the University of Notre Dame, signaling the beginning of a friendly rivalry for the two. They are the class of the field in PIAA 2A, and this one could come down to the wire.
Pajak ran 14:58 to finish third at this race last year. He is undefeated this year, with two wins on two challenging courses including the Hershey Parkview course. Paul Short may be a nice reprieve.
Above: Ryan Pajak won the PIAA Foundation 2A race last week.
On the other hand, Whitaker recently ran 14:42.60, the new PA No. 2 All-Time mark.
Cameron Davis (Calvert Hall) could also be in the mix. He ran 14:59 to finish seventh at the adidas XC Challenge. He was in the lead pack with Whitaker for much of that race.
The course record is on watch; Brian DiCola ran 14:43 to break the previous mark.