BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Connecticut College men's and women's cross country teams competed at one of the country's top events on Saturday, running at the 49th annual Lehigh Paul Short Run on the Goodman Campus Cross Country Course.

Both teams competed in the "brown" race, one of three divisions for collegiate runners. The women's team racked up 482 points and finished in 19th place in the field of 43. The men's squad placed 32nd out of 47 teams and finished with 862 points.

Conn will next run at the James Earley Invitational on Saturday, October 7 in Westfield, Mass.

Women's Race

The Camels, on the cusp of a national ranking in the latest USTFCCCA poll, ran an excellent race against a strong field of Division I, II and III programs. Conn placed behind only five other DIII schools—all of which were nationally ranked—and bested a multitude of DI and DII programs. 

Abigail Fernald (Avon, Conn.) was the first Camel to cross the finish line and clocked in at 22:30.8, good enough for 31st place overall. She made up 24 places after the 2-mile mark and was the 11th-fastest DIII runner in the race.

Lauren Hino (Berwyn, Pa.) also turned in a strong performance, finishing 97th in a time of 23:21.3 The next wave of Conn runners included Edin Sisson (Sidney, Maine) and Grace McDonough (Londonderry, N.H.), who crossed the line together and finished 114th, and 116th, respectively. Rounding out the scoring for the Camels was Abigail Williams (Waterville, Maine), who posted a time of 23:38.7 and placed 138th.

Both McDonough and Williams really turned on the jets in the latter stages of the race. McDonough passed 77 runners after the 2-mile mark while Williams made up 46 spots.

Conn's Top 7
Abigail Fernald (31st, 22:30.8)
Lauren Hino (97th, 23:21.3)
Edin Sisson (114th, 23:29.2)
Grace McDonough (116th, 23:29.6)
Abigail Williams (138th, 23:38.7)
Addie Fuller (218th, 24:34.1)
Mary Lonergan (223rd, 24:37.6)

Men's Race

Competing in a field of 47 teams from all NCAA levels, the Camels crossed the finish line ahead of 15 other programs. Leading the way was Brendan Mellitt (Cheshire, Conn.), who locked in a time of 26:00.2 to place 72nd overall. 

Chris Davis (Dunstable, Mass.) was the next Conn runner to cross the finish line, securing 167th place with a time of 26:46.4. Harry Harwood (Woodbury, Conn.) and Ellis Iurilli-Hough (Melrose, Mass.) finished seconds apart with times of 27:10.5 and 27:13.4, respectively, and Robert DiNatale (Cheshire, Conn.) rounded out the scoring with a time of 27:33.0.

Five of Conn's top seven runners made up places over the final 1.7 kilometers. Harwood made up a team-high 21 spots while DiNatale chased down 20 runners. 

Conn's Top 7
Brendan Mellitt (72nd, 26:00.2)
Chris Davis (167th 26:46.4)
Harry Harwood (203rd, 27:10.5)
Ellis Iurilli-Hough (212th, 27:13.4)
Robert DiNatale (242nd, 27:33.0)
Zach Stoddard (257th, 27:42.8)
Anthony Belford (262nd, 27:44.5)