BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Harvard cross country returned to action with impressive individual and team performances at the Paul Short Run, as both the men's and women's teams finished inside the top-10 of the team standings in the Keystone State.

Paced by a trio of top-10 individual finishes, Harvard took fourth place in the men's 8k race with 147 points. One of Harvard's team captains for the 2025 season, junior Sam Burgess paced the Crimson's scoring with a first place finish, crossing the finish line in 23:18.6 to take home gold. In his collegiate debut, first-year Tam Gavenas joined Burgess on the podium, as the Andover, Mass. native took third with a time of 23:20.1. Junior Charlie Ortmans also impressed in his season debut, recording a time of 23:26.0 to finish in ninth place.

Over in the women's 6k race, team captain and senior Molly Malague paved the Crimson women's path to a ninth place showing and 297 points. An All-Ivy League honoree last season, Malague finished in fifth place with a time of 19:48.2. Fellow classmate and All-Ivy League selection Penelope Salmon joined Malague in the top-25, as the Auckland, New Zealand native took 21^st with a time of 20:20.3.

HARVARD HIGHLIGHTS:

• The men's team shined at the Paul Short Run, finishing in fourth place with 147 points.
• Burgess, who finished in 12^th at the Ivy League Heptagonal Cross Country Championships and 15^th at the NCAA Northeast Regional Championships last season, took center stage at the Paul Short Run, winning the men's gold 8k race with a time of 23:18.6. A native of Framingham, Massachusetts, Burgess took 16^th at last season's Paul Short Run.
• Running with the lead group for the majority of the race, Burgess sat at sixth place with a time of 18:41.4 at the 6.3k, as his kick paid off over the last leg of the race which saw Burgess take first place honors.
• Gavenas impressed in his collegiate debut, finishing in third place with a time of 23:20.1. Ortmans joined Gavenas in the top-10, posting a time of 23.26.0 to take ninth place.
• Another Crimson making their collegiate debut, first-year Benjamin Bouie scored for Harvard with a 35^th place showing and a time of 23:55.90. First-year Grant Schroder rounded out Harvard's scoring at the Paul Short Run, taking 103^rd place with a time of 24:31.6.
• Harvard's women's team also posted a top-10 showing in the Keystone State, taking ninth place in the team standings of the women's 6k gold race with 297 points.
• Malague and Salmon highlighted Harvard's scoring efforts at the Paul Short Run. Malague took fifth, posting a time of 19:48.2 in the process, as Salmon finished in 21^st with a time of 20:20.3.
• Two more Crimson women finished in the top-100 to contribute to Harvard's points tally. Sophomore Katelyn Matarese slotted into 78^th place with a time of 21:07.1, as first-year Dylan McElhinney finished right behind Matarese, taking 79^th place after crossing the finish line in 21:08.4.
• Sophomore Abigail Sadler concluded the Crimson's scoring with a 114^th place finish and a time of 21:21.7.

UP NEXT:

Harvard will compete at two meets on Friday, Oct. 17, as the Crimson will feature at the Nuttycombe Invitational and the ECAC/IC4A Championships.

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