In what became the highlight of a young season thus far, the Siena Women's Cross Country team flourished on Saturday morning placing first as a team in the Brown Women's 6K to highlight the program's day at the prestigious Paul Short Run held at Lehigh. Not to be outdone, led by a second place finish from junior Evans Kibet, the men's program placed fourth overall in the Brown 8K race.

The women finished as the top team of 43 total programs in the field, improving from a 9th place team finish in the event last season. Over the last six years, the Saints have literally gone worst to first at the Paul Short Run, improving on a 43rd place finish in 2013. They would compile 109 total points, crushing both Shippensburg and Boston University who finished second and third with 280 and 281, respectively. Led by senior Sarah Forman's seventh place finish with a time of 21:39, she would come 20 seconds short of the program's all-time 6K record which she set in the same event last year. More records would fall, as four of Siena's seven runners set personal records in the 6K. The Saints second place finisher, freshman Olivia Lomascolo, came in 13^th at 22:07, crushing the previous freshman all-time record in the 6K by 35 seconds. Sophomore Monica Strain also set a PR, finishing 24^th with a time of 22:28, which bested her previous best by 28 seconds.

Following up the top three was junior Sydney Johnson, who came in just outside the top 25 with a 26^th place finish with a time of 22:29. She would have the biggest jump in personal record, as she topped her previous 6K time by 1:27. That time was also set at the Paul Short Run just a year ago. To round out the finishes, junior Carolyn Pellegrini finished 39^th, junior Camryn Johnson finished 54^th, and sophomore Morgan Serkes finished 57^th, as she set a PR with a time of 22:57. Each time set today all finished as top 11 times in program history in the 6K.

"To say that we thought about winning the women's race coming into the weekend would be a stretch, but it's great to see everything come together and surprise ourselves a little at a big mid-season race," said head coach John Kenworthy. "Top three was the goal, which is still a huge improvement on year's past, so to exceed that is really exciting. We still have a lot to work on, it wasn't a perfect day. But we're treating this as confirmation that our process works. Now we're going to lean into that daily routine and keep getting better all the way to MAAC Championships."

Kibet led the men's squad with a time of 24:43, which ends up as the sixth fastest time in program history in the 8K. He fell two seconds short of his personal best time, which he set in this event last year. Kibet had a chance for the win, as he and race winner Dan Schaffer from Binghamton were neck and neck as they approached the final 400 meters. However, Schaffer climbed ahead, beating Kibet by six seconds. Junior Stosh Davis finished 19^th, as he was the second finishing Saint with a time of 25:31. Rounding out the top four would be senior William Randall, who finished 27^th with a time of 25:40, and junior Michael Rautter who finished 33^rd with a time of 25:43.

 "The men have become so consistent at this meet," added Kenworthy. "This year was no different. I was excited to see Evans dueling for a win in the last 400 meters, and the men backed that up with our best group of races yet. There is still a lot of hard training to get to in October and they seem ready to make another jump in the coming weeks."

The Saints return to the course Saturday, October 6 when they travel to Westfield State University to compete in the James Earley Invitational. Races kick off at 11 a.m.