FULL RESULTS

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Facing off against a Division I-heavy field and braving steamy conditions, the Gators took part in the prestigious Paul Short Classic hosted by Lehigh University.

Allegheny took 33rd in a race ran in 80-degree weather and against a 47-team field that included such schools as Harvard, Georgetown, Penn State, Yale, and Wake Forest.  Despite the rigorous competition and less than desirable running conditions, Gator head coach Brent Wilkerson feels his squad was disappointed in its performance.

"It went okay," he said, "but I don't think we lived up to our expectations today.  We had the ability to be in the top-20, and definitely the ability to be one of the top Division III teams in the field, but we didn't do as well as I think we could have."

The Gators, ranked 28th in the October 2nd national coaches'  poll,  finished fourth among the six Division III teams in the field, but did best #15 Cortland and #19 Johns Hopkins.

"We were coming off of a hard workout week, and it was hot," Wilkerson said.  "I think it was just the combination of racing on tired legs and in unexpectedly hot weather."

Bobby Over was the Gators' top finisher, turning in a time of 24:59, while Logan Steiner finished 30 seconds later, good for 112th.  Allegheny's top five runners, including Over, Steiner, Jack Denison, James Rynes, and Dan Chueng, were separated by 1:45. 

The Gators' will be facing another tough field in its next competition, the October 19th NCAA Inter-Regional Rumble hosted by Oberlin, and Wilkerson believes that his runners will be more than ready to make up for its showing at Lehigh.

"We are going to take this into our next race," said the coach, "and we're going to be really hungry going into Oberlin.  We underperformed and I know we're going to be really motivated to run hard."