Rowan Men’s cross country traveled to Lehigh University’s annual Paul Short Run on Friday, one of the largest cross country meets in the country. Out of 44 teams in the White Race, aimed for teams in NCAA Division III, the Profs finished 21st.

In that race, graduate student Matthew Conway placed 44th at a time of 25:13.9, which led all runners in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC).

“He ran really well there, fastest guy in the conference, second fastest guy in the region,” head coach Dustin Dimit said. “So, we’ll take that. And that consistency with him and Colin [Patterson] of kind of being able to hold on in those races on good days, bad days. That consistency is what pays off when we get to championship season.”

Colin Patterson followed up Conway as the second runner from Rowan to cross the line, with Patterson registering a 25:36.80 for 81st.

Conway earned NJAC Men’s runner of the week, but that wasn’t the only accolade that went to Rowan. Freshman Dan Cota earned NJAC Rookie Runner of the Week after crossing the line first at Lehigh, out of any conference first-year.

“That was huge to be able to run under 27 minutes for the first time and run 26, especially in that type of race,” Dimit said.

Cota knew how important it was to get off to a fast start with the large size of the race, showing a good amount of awareness for someone running in the Paul Short run for the first time.

“You have to kind of get that in order,” Cota said.

Scott Hubbard finished 104th for the Profs, with Sean Hice behind him at 142nd. Aidan Brad rounded out Rowan’s scoring, with a 194th-place finish.

The final tally of 547 points means the Profs finished just 13 points shy of a top-20 finish, with Messiah at 534. NYU finished in first place with a score of 54.

Now, Rowan will turn their attention to DREAM Park in Logan Township, New Jersey, for their Border Battle event to finish out the regular season. Rowan will get some work in at its home course on Friday, wrapping up this week’s prep before taking advantage of next week’s chance to get even more comfortable there.

“It’s exciting,” Cota said. “I’m going to have friends there watching, and it’s pretty cool to have the race there.”

That event is slated for Oct. 18 at 11 a.m., the final regular-season event before the NJAC Championships in November.