Long Finishes 10th, Murray Takes 17th at Paul Short Run

September 29, 2017 | Track & Field

Men's Gold 8K Results Women's Gold 6K Results

(Photo Credit: Justin Lafleur/Lehigh Athletics)

BETHLEHEM, Pa. -- Tennessee junior Zach Long took 10th place in the Men's College Gold 8K race and sophomore Megan Murray finished 17th in the Women's College Gold 6K race at Friday's 44th annual Paul Short Run presented by Asics at Goodman Campus Cross Country Course.

44th Annual Paul Short Run

Tennessee Men (16th of 40)

10. Zach Long, 23:50
68. Wesley Robinson, 24:34
104. John Elrod, 24:52
129. Andre Hillsman, 25:01
153. Alex Crigger, 25:11
157. Conner Hawkins, 25:12
212. Brad Swiney, 25:33

Tennessee Women (24th of 42)

17. Megan Murray, 20:24
85. Niamh Schumacher, 21:06
175. Taylor Luthringer, 21:55
193. Abigail Smith, 22:09
223. Peighton Meske, 22:26
247. Cassidy Giles, 22:46
251. Emma Reed, 22:48

The Tennessee men finished in 16th place out of 40 teams in the Men's College Gold 8K race that featured 359 runners. The UT women took 24th out of 42 teams in the Women's College Gold 6K, which had 268 runners.

Long posted the best 8K time of his career at 23:50, marking his first time breaking the 24-minute mark. He was in third place through the first mile at 4:36. Long's 10th-place finish was also the fourth top 10 showing of his UT cross country career.

"I was very impressed with Zach Long and his race," Tennessee director of track and field/cross country Beth Alford-Sullivan said. "He was out in the top 10 the entire race, competed very well, beat a lot of people he hasn't beaten before and was extremely competitive, really leading our guys with his top time ever and a race that puts him in the books as a guy that is going to contend this year."

Murray clocked a career-best 20:24 to take 17th in the 6K, marking her first time breaking the 21-minute mark. She stayed with the front group early as she was in eighth place through the first mile at 5:24. Her 17th-place finish was the fifth top-25 showing of her career.

"Megan Murray had a breakout race," Alford-Sullivan said. "She has just improved leaps and bounds from her freshman year, has definitely put herself right in the mix and is going be a contender as well when we get to the championship time of year."

Junior Wesley Robinson placed 68th with a career-best 8K time of 24:34. Freshman John Elrod (104th, 24:52), junior Andre Hillsman (129th, 25:01) and freshman Alex Crigger (153rd, 25:11) rounded out the Vols' top five. Freshman Conner Hawkins took 157th in 25:12 and sophomore Brad Swiney was 212th in 25:33.

Making her collegiate debut, freshman Niamh Schumacher took 85th in the 6K with a time of 21:06. Freshman Taylor Luthringer (175th, 21:55), freshman Abigail Smith (193rd, 22:09) and junior Peighton Meske (223rd, 22:26) rounded out UT's top five finishers. Junior Cassidy Giles finished 247th in 22:46 and junior Emma Reed was 251st in 22:48.

"Overall, we were disappointed with the end results in the team competitions," Alford-Sullivan said. "Both the men and the women we think could have placed better than our 16th and 24th finishes. But we really are dealing with a young squad that, in race of over 300 runners, got buried early on and really didn't know quite how to respond to being back in those positions and really racing through the race. We ran very competitively, especially on the men's side. They were out very fast through the first mile and that definitely has an effect, especially on our young freshmen that ran for us today."

The UT men ran three freshmen and four of the top five Tennessee women are in their first or second year in the program. Alford-Sullivan believes that her young squad will learn from Friday's competitive race.

"We think we are better than we competed today, but will certainly use this as a learning process with these young teams," she said. "What we are working on right now is just learning how to race at this collegiate level. Seeing the improvements of Megan Murray and Zach Long really is inspiring for where we want to take these young kids."

Tennessee will next compete in Pre-Nationals on Oct. 14 at E.P. Tom Sawyer Park in Louisville, Kentucky.