Cross country: Men’s team finishes 28th in recent invite

The Pitt men’s cross country team finished 28th out of 42 teams in the Paul Short Invite held… The Pitt men’s cross country team finished 28th out of 42 teams in the Paul Short Invite held at Lehigh University.

The 8-kilometer race was the third for the Panthers so far this year.

“We try to run to our potential, and I think we came close this weekend,” Pitt coach Clinton Bell said. “Unfortunately, the competition was stiff. Two years ago, we would have placed in the upper echelon.”

The trio of Josh Christopher, Greg Kareis and Teddy Miller paced the Panthers.

Christopher, a junior, finished first for the Panthers, recording a time of 24:55 — it was good for 96th overall.

Sophomore Kareis placed second for the Panthers with a time of 25:12, finishing 133rd overall.

Miller finished close behind and recorded a time of 25:13 — third for the Panthers and 137th overall.

Christopher and Miller have finished in the top three for the Panthers at each of the previous two tournaments.

Christopher finished third at the Cappy Anderson Invitational and second at the Duquesne Duels. Miller finished second at the Cappy Anderson Invitational and first at the Duquesne Duels.

But Bell said this pattern is nothing new.

“They were top three every meet last year,” he said. “They know their role and are looking forward to helping each other and pushing the team forward.”

Local rival Duquesne University finished 21st. Indiana University won the meet with an average time of 23:51. Iona College (N.Y.) finished second with an average time of 23:53. It is ranked seventh in the Sept. 29 USTFCCCA poll. N.C. State finished third with an average time of 24:02. It is ranked 19th.

The women’s team was off this weekend.

Cross country returns to action Oct. 10 at the Carnegie Mellon University Invite in Pittsburgh. Carnegie Mellon hosts the 8-kilometer run.

Bell said the focus of the upcoming Invite would be to give other roster members an opportunity to compete, as well as to give some runners a weekend off.