Muhlenberg senior Abby Dalton finished in the top five at the Paul Short Run for the third straight time.

Dalton averaged a sub-6-minute mile, clocking in at 22:13.4 to place third out of 263 runners in the Women's College White 6K, one of 12 high school and college races hosted by Lehigh in one of the biggest cross country meets in the nation. 

Dalton came in second as a freshman in 2018 and fifth in 2019, improving her time every meet, from 22:52 to 22:22.9 to this year's 22:13.4. Only Jamie Pacilio, who won the race in 2016, has placed higher or run faster in the meet as a Mule.

A Muhlenberg runner has placed in the top five each of the last five times the team ran in Paul Short. 

Classmate Marielle Avola also ran a strong race, coming in 21st (12th among Division III competitors) to give the Mules two runners in the top 25. Avola crossed the finish line in 23:16.2, a big improvement from the 24:04.8 she ran on the same course four weeks ago. 

Although the Mules, ranked seventh in the Metro Region, did not have enough healthy runners to field a complete team, the times of their top runners compared very favorably to other top teams in the region.

The men were able to field a complete team, and it was a very young team. Of the nine Mules to cross the finish line, it was the first 8K ever for six of them.

Muhlenberg came in 20th out of 26 teams overall, 13th out of 19 Division III squads. Senior Pat Smurla led the Mules by placing 58th.

Women's Team Scores (top 10)
1. Daemen 121
2. Susquehanna 158
3. Kutztown 181
4. Southern Connecticut State 182
5. Franklin & Marshall 208
6. Nazareth 225
7. Scranton 236
8. Concord 242
9. California (Pa.) 270
10. Lebanon Valley 273

Muhlenberg runners
3. Abby Dalton, 22:13.4
21. Marielle Avola, 23:16.2
150. Lauren House, 26:13.8

Men's Team Scores (top 10)
1. Washington and Lee 104
2. Catholic 105
3. Lebanon Valley 140
4. Ursinus 142
5. Marywood 204
6. Scranton 217
7. St. Vincent (Pa.) 229
8. Franklin & Marshall 232
9. Susquehanna 237
10. Dickinson 264
20. MUHLENBERG 523

Muhlenberg runners
58. Pat Smurla, 27:38.4
115. Markus Vottero, 28:53.9
119. Conner Soderstedt, 29:03.3
130. Nathan Reimer, 29:19.7
169. Mason Tran, 31:04.7
172. Joe Cwiklinski, 31:24.7
185. Jason Ivey, 33:04.9