This past weekend, Muhlenberg College’s men’s and women’s cross-country teams participated in the Paul Short Run hosted by Lehigh University in neighboring Bethlehem, Pa. The men’s team finished in 13th place out of the 22 teams that competed and the women finished in 18th place out of 32 teams. For the men’s team, Sebastian Montalvo ‘27 finished first for the men crossing the finish line in 12th place. Maggie Holderith ‘27 finished first for the Mules and improved her time by a minute since the last time she ran at Lehigh.
The Mules did a lot of personal record-breaking at the Paul Short Run this weekend; Montalvo ran two minutes better than his previous 8k race there. Hadley DeVarennes ‘25 beat her past time by 51 seconds, beating her personal record (PR). Ellen Maguire ‘25 beat her time by 2 minutes and 30 seconds, as well as Ava Lundy ‘27 who beat her time by a minute. For the men, Andrew Smolowitz ‘26 ran his best 8k in his career and David Steel ‘27 improved his race finish within a minute. The Mules are continuously making progress in improving their numbers as the conference championship is not far away on Nov. 2.
A new addition to the team, Jamie Carfagna ‘25, took some time to speak about the team and their accomplishments so far this year. “Since I am new to the team, I am not quite certain what the goals were to be better from last year, but I will say that everyone has trained their hardest and most people have had their [personal record (PR)] in recent races. Everyone is putting in the work to see great results! I look forward to seeing what the rest of the season brings.” The team is practicing hard and is gradually improving throughout the season. It is a marathon for these teams, not a sprint.
Cross country can seem like an individual sport as the racer runs by themselves, but Carfagna has explained how they keep the team aspects alive, “Running is very individual, but we are always supporting one another to help motivate them during the race by talking to each other if people are hurt and not competing they are on the sidelines at almost every step of the way pushing you, cheering you on. I will say this is a very close-knit team and we want nothing but the best and success from everyone.” Having a team with strong chemistry is the recipe for any kind of success teams want to have and keeping it alive is essential throughout their long season.
The Mules are continuously making progress in improving their numbers as the conference championship is not far away on Nov. 2.
Lehigh University is a very common place for the Mules to compete. Carfagna likes the routine of knowing the course, “I love the comfort of knowing the course beforehand because there are no surprises. The Lehigh course is extremely nice, but there are some inclines, so it was helpful to know the course before pacing myself and savoring some energy for those hills. I think everyone could agree with me on this.” Pacing is essential for these runners to figure out as they are competing for such long periods of time. Carfagna continued, “I try to go into the race with a blank slate. I tell myself ‘It’s a new day,’ and it generally helps me. I know that everyone works differently, this is just my preference.” Keeping the pressure off is the best way to compete in any sports competition, and Carfagna’s favorite way to do this is to go through the race like it is a new day and the past has no influence on the present.
Carfagna also has a positive mindset as she runs to help motivate herself, as the mental side of the game is a big focus for her. “I would say that the hardest thing when it comes to running in races of such length is maintaining the ‘keep going, don’t give up mindset.’ It is such a mental game when you are running these long distances and trying to push yourself to be the person in front of you. It is exhausting, but fun. I always think of the finish line when it gets tough. I think of all the hard effort I have put in day in and day out at practice to be where I am at the moment and that motivates me to keep going.”
The cross country team’s next competition is the Border Battle hosted by Rowan University on Saturday, Oct. 19.
