Men's cross-country snatches fifth at Paul Short Invitational

When asked if he was pleased with the Penn men's cross-country team's results on Saturday at the Paul Short Memorial Run, Penn coach Charlie Powell quickly responded, "No, not at all."

Penn finished in fifth place in a field of 33 teams, behind William & Mary, Columbia, Princeton and American University.

The top Quakers individually were sophomores Nolan Tully in 14th place, Dusty Lieb in 15th and George Weiner in 36th.

Powell was quick to point out, however, that the team was not 100 percent this weekend, as sophomores Stephen Hayes and Erik Malmstrom were both ill.

Hayes was forced to sit out of the race, and Malmstrom's performance was deeply hampered by the flu, finishing in 78th.

"On Thursday and Friday [Erik] felt pretty good so we decided to race him, but two miles into it, you could see that he felt like absolute crud," Powell said. "Steve's cold is just kicking his butt. He's sleeping like 16 to 18 hours some days and is still tired. He's starting to feel better, though."

Without these two runners at their best, the team suffered.

"If we had Steve and Erik run, we should have come in second or third," Powell said. "Nevertheless, we gotta be able to pull through."

Tully, a native of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., was much more optimistic with Saturday's finish.

"I was pleased with the results personally and as a team," he said. "We're right where we should be -- given the circumstances."

Despite Penn finishing in fifth for the second year in a row, Tully is quick to point out the great improvement of the team over the past year.

"We were very young and inexperienced last year," he said. "We are very much improved."

"This is a much better team than last year," Powell said. "We ran a heck of a lot better this year, but we faced a much stronger field."

The victory by William & Mary came as no surprise as they are the No. 19 team in the nation. The success of Columbia and Princeton was also expected, as they are both ranked highly in their regional divisions, however American's fourth place finish came as a complete shock to many.

"I was totally surprised by them," Powell said. "[American coach] Matt Centrowitz is doing a great coaching job with those guys."

The Quakers did happen to finish better than many Mid-Atlantic division rivals, including No. 5 Penn State, who was sixth, and No. 9 St. Francis, who was 12th.

Next up for the Penn distance squad is the Philly Classic, this Saturday at Belmont Plateau against teams such as Big 5 rivals La Salle and Villanova and Ivy League rivals Cornell and Princeton.

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