The women’s cross country team will return to action Friday afternoon at Lehigh University, as they participate in the 39th Annual Paul Short Invitational in the Brown 6k race at 1:00 p.m. The Owls are coming off a second-place finish at the Friend Invitational, a first-time event hosted by Temple in remembrance of the late Roswell Friend, a former member of the program.
Sophomore Jenna Dubrow’s dominance continued into her sophomore debut at the event, as she finished in first place. Last year, Dubrow had the highest placement ever by a Temple student at the Paul Short Invitational with a 40th place finish. First-year coach Adam Bray said he sees a bright future both this year and beyond for Dubrow.
“The sky is the limit for Jenna,” Bray said after the team’s first meet. “I think she’s a girl that can finish pretty well in the conference meet and hopefully she can finish well at the regional meet. Down the road she could be a national qualifier in cross country.”
“She’s starting to realize she has a special gift, and that she has to get everything out of herself to be successful,” Bray added.
Last week, the team utilized a similar strategy as the men, to not run full force until the very end of the race. This week, however, will be different, Bray said.
“We’re not going to have that same race plan,” Bray said. “I want them to get in the mix a little more and see them race and compete. I’m not so much worried about the times. Each course is different, and you can’t always count on time. But I want to see them compete and beat people.”
Led by sophomore Cullen Davis, the men will look to build upon their first-place finish at the Friend Invitational, as they head to Lehigh University to take part in the Gold 8k race in the 39th Annual Paul Short Invitational at 11 a.m. Making his season debut in his final year with the team will be redshirt-senior Travis Mahoney. He was left out of last week’s race’s due to a number of factors.
“We sat down and talked and both agreed it’s best not to run his first week,” Bray said after the team’s first meet. “He had a little bit of a flu the week before, and I didn’t want to beat him up. He’s talented enough to qualify for the national meet and be an All-American. Beating him up early in the season isn’t going to help him later this year.”
Last week, the race plan was set for endurance and conservation. Only in the final minutes were the athletes to run at full strength. Like the women, the men will have a somewhat different race plan come Friday.
“I want the guys to get in there and mix it up and compete. The whole roster is talented, and they can do some talented things. We’re building momentum. If we continue to do that and stay healthy—I don’t know what place we’ll get, but the result will be good.”
Last year, Temple placed 44th as a team, and was led by now-sophomore Matthew Kacyon.
–Avery Maehrer
