Sept. 30, 2009

AMHERST, Mass. - The UMass women's cross country team will travel to Bethlehem, Pa. this Friday when the squad will compete in the 36th annual Paul Short Invitational. The race will be hosted by Lehigh, who has hosted the meet since its inception. Although the invitational is held early in the season, it is known as one of the biggest cross country meets of the year and this year is no exception. The invitational is shaping up to be the biggest in its 36 year history as the race will include over 5,000 runners from over 400 high schools and colleges across the nation.

The Minutewomen head into the race looking to improve upon their solid finish from last year's meet. Last year, redshirt junior Shiyi Zan led the way for UMass. Zan placed 58th out of 296 runners with a time of 21:43 and propelled the Minutewomen to a 27th place finish out of 43 teams in the Brown Division. Sophomore Karen Roa also added a strong performance with a 141st place finish and a time of 22:40 in the 6k race. With almost two weeks of rest behind them, UMass will be ready for another strong performance at invitational.

The Minutewomen will be competing in the Gold Division, and will have their first look at five of their Atlantic 10 Conference foes. Duquesne, George Washington, La Salle, Richmond, and Saint Joseph's are among the 41 teams that UMass will compete against.

The women's 6k race will take place at The Goodman Campus Course on Friday, Oct. 2 at 11:45 a.m.