Sept. 28, 2012

BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The men's cross country team kicked off the second half of the 2012 season with a 10th-place finish in the Gold Division of the 8K Paul Short Invitational on Friday, September 28. The team faced off against 37 other schools and 332 runners in all. Senior captain Jon Mazzio led the way for the Hawks for the second time this season, placing 34th with a team-best time of 24:44.

With the time, Mazzio took 22 seconds off of his 2011 Paul Short time and came just under two seconds away from crushing his personal-best time in the 8K (24:42.22).

Junior Aaron Leskow finished in the top five for the Hawks for the second time this season, coming in 43rd place with a time of 24:53. Leskow ran 53 seconds faster than his 2011 Paul Short time as 24:53 becomes his new personal-best in the 8K, 13 seconds faster than his previous personal-best (25:06).

Placing 63rd for the Hawks in his second race of the season was sophomore Logan Mohn. Like Leskow, Mohn has finished in the top five twice for the Hawks this season. Clocking in at a time of 25:06, Mohn ran 35 seconds faster than last season's Paul Short outing and sets a new personal-best time in the 8K, demolishing his previous time (25:29.55) by just over 23 seconds.

Junior Mike Rankin and senior captain Patrick Donnelly placed 94th and 98th, respectively, both clocking in at 25:29 to round out the top five for the Hawks. Donnelly improved his 2011 Paul Short time by 25 seconds and sets a new personal-best in the 8K, bettering his former time (25:53.9) by just less than 24 seconds.

For a complete list of all participants, click here.

The Hawks return to action on Saturday, October 13 when they travel to Princeton, N.J. to compete in the Princeton Invitational. Start time is scheduled for 10:00 a.m.