Ideal running conditions – cool and slightly overcast with a light breeze – greeted The Hill’s cross country teams as they disembarked from the team bus at Lehigh University on Saturday, October 5. After a month of intense, early season training, the coaches were eager to see how Hill’s runners would fare against the highly competitive field at the Paul Short Invitational, one of the largest races on the east coast.
Led by co-captain Olivia Tullman ’20, The Hill girls’ team had an historic day, finishing tenth out of 41 teams in the White division. Individually, Tullman became the first runner in program history to break 20 minutes in a 5K race, crossing the finish line in of 19:35, good for a 15th-place finish out of 341 runners. Behind Tullman, Hill’s next four finishers all had at least a season-best time, if not a significant lifetime best run. Hill’s second finisher, Elena Mendez ’21, ran a 44-second lifetime best to finish in 20:59, her first time eclipsing 21-minutes. The biggest surprise of the day came from Adele Harris ’22 who, in just her third race at the 5k distance, ran a 1:37 personal best and broke 22-minutes. Finishing between Mendez and Harris were co-captain Paige Barcus ’20 and Amber Cao ’21, giving Hill four runners who finished within a one-minute gap.
The final three runners entered in the varsity race, Chevelle Obuobi-Donkor ’20, Paige Timbrook ’22, and Courtney Bodolus ’23, also ran season or lifetime-bests. Leading the JV group was Audrey Lehneis ’21 who clocked an astonishing 2:30 lifetime best in a time that could put her in contention for a varsity spot in the season’s final weeks.
“This is always the first meet we circle on the calendar to see how we’re doing as a team,” said head coach Dan McMains ’98. “It’s hard to imagine how the day could have gone any better.”
Hill first attended the Paul Short Invitational in 2006. On Saturday, boys’ co-captain Jamie Olson ’21 posted the second-fastest time ever by a Hill runner at the meet, putting him in the same company as recent Hill greats such as Rich Lafferty ’09, former St. Joseph’s University standout Quinn Davis ’12, and former Patriot League Runner of the Year Tyler Mueller ’10.
Olson entered the final stretch in 11th place before a late kick helped him surpass two runners to finish ninth overall out of 365 competitors in a time of 16:09.4. Olson’s fellow co-captain, Shahzaib Umer ’20, broke 17 minutes for the first time in a 5K, finishing 46th in a time of 16:56, and emerging standout Michael Soland ’21 posted his first sub-18’ 5K.
This upcoming Saturday, Hill’s varsity runners will travel to the Bronx to race in the Van Cortlandt Invitational, another large event which will be a strong barometer. Those runners who are not racing in the Bronx will compete in a dual meet at The Hun School before the team takes to Brookside Country Club for its lone home meet of the 2019 season against Blair Academy on Parents’ Weekend.