St. John's University Athletics
St. John's University
Paul Short Invite
St. John's Represents Well at Paul Short Run
9/30/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The St. John's women's cross country team raced to a 13th place overall finish out of 24 teams in the second-level Division I Brown Race of Friday's 44th annual Paul Short Run, presented by Asics. The Red Storm finished with three runners in the top-65 on the day, and multiple new personal bests in the 6K event.
"We had a great day running as we had numerous personal bests for the 6k distance," said head coach Jim Hurt on his team's efforts.
Senior Melissa Hidalgo led the way for the Johnnies by posting a personal-best time of 22:34 to finish 43rd. Hidalgo, who missed the NYIT Invite two weeks ago for her LSAT exam, picked up right where she left off for St. John's to help secure a top-45 spot.
Sophomores Therese Gallagher and Stephanie Gerland finished close behind Hidalgo to also secure finishes in the top-65 with times of 22:40 and 23:00, respectively. Both times were new personal bests for the runners as Gerland shaved over 70 seconds off her previous best in the 6K event.
Two more student-athletes picked up personal bests for the Johnnies as junior Shannon Page (24:13, 110th) and senior Nicole McCarthy (24:54, 129) both dropped stellar times. For McCarthy, the run was a new personal best in the 6K by over three minutes to anchor the Red Storm. Sophomore Jackie Gallagher also nearly picked up a personal best, but finished just four seconds off her pace to finish 117th (24:28).
"Melissa Hidalgo, Tess Gallagher, & Stephanie Gerland were all within 30 seconds of each other which is fantastic," said Hurt. "Shannon Page ran a huge race for us while Jackie Gallagher closed out our top five. Nicole McCarthy posted another personal best as well."
Junior Elizabeth Costantino, who led St. John's with a pair of top-five finishes earlier in the season, was bit by the injury bug during the race and could not finish.
"Unfortunately Liz Costantino was felled by a sore hamstring and was unable to finish. She was running with Melissa so it made an impact on our overall team placing," said Hurt on the injury.
After the race, St. John's was able to return to Queens to show school pride by cheering on the Red Storm volleyball team to its sweep over Providence.
In just two weeks, St. John's will make its second trip to historic Van Cortlandt Park for the Metropolitan Championships on Oct. 13.
"With everyone healthy we should be a factor at the Met Champs in two weeks," Hurt believes
For all the latest news on the St. John's XC team, log on to RedStormSports.com and follow the team (@StJohnsXCTF) on Twitter. You can join the conversation with #SJUXC. If you would like to be added to the St. John's XC mailing list, send an email to stjcommunications@stjohns.edu with the subject line "XC Mailing List".
Players Mentioned
