BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Loras College men's and women's cross country teams competed at the Paul Short Invitational, hosted by Lehigh University, on Saturday.

The No. 29-ranked men opened with the 8K race at 11:30 a.m. and came away with multiple personal records despite unseasonably high temperatures. Isaac Bourne led the Duhawks with a third-place finish in 24:25.1, earning a top-25 award. Eric Rutherford followed in 28th at 25:04.8.

Five of Loras' top seven posted personal bests, including Ryan McGrath (50th, 25:18.3) and Beehler (55th, 25:23.1). Colby Cryer placed 154th (26:15.5), Logan Hoger 171st (26:24.0), and Evan Schlichting 184th (26:26.9).

"I was happy to see PRs and time drops on what ended up being a pretty hot day," said head coach Ethan Adlfinger. "It wasn't the most ideal way to run it, but we want to use this as a steppingstone for future meets."

The men placed eighth out of 45 teams after coming into the meet as the 10th nationally ranked program.

On the women's side, freshman Keelee Leitzen paced the Purple and Gold in her Duhawk 6K debut, finishing 22nd in 21:50.6. The performance marked her collegiate best, ranked fourth all-time in program history, and earned her a top-25 award. Bailey Vaughan followed in 145th (23:08.0).

Loras also saw personal records from Lilly Molloy (170th, 23:17.4), Ivy Glendening (186th, 23:28.0) and Paige Jacobs (204th, 23:35.4). Savannah Davis placed 285th (24:24.2) and Hunter Jones 304th (24:47.7) to round out the top seven.

"I thought the women executed very well while staying patient on a hot day. They are very coachable, and that's all I can ask for as we prepare for bigger meets."

Other members of the squad raced at the Brissman-Lundeen Invitational, hosted by Augustana College and got a preview of the course they will run on in two weeks at the Augustana Interregional.

Vince Frederiksen and Liam Lentz ran personal bests despite the extremely hot weather conditions and dropped times from Peoria.

Up next: Loras returns to Rock Island, Ill., for the Augustana Interregional on Saturday, Oct. 18. The men's race begins at 11 a.m., followed by the women's race at 11:45 a.m.