Rowan men’s cross country gave it there all Saturday, Oct. 5 in the third race of the season, the Paul Short Run, which took place in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania at Lehigh University. Rowan placed 12th out of the 41 teams that were there.

Head coach Dustin Dimit was content with his team’s performance on Saturday, even though his best runner was under the weather. Junior Scott Hubbard had been sick all week but went out there and did his best on the course. 

“We had some really good races and then we had some people that were a little under the weather,” said Dimit. “Scott was sick all week. So he went out there and gave it his all, but it wasn’t quite where, you know, we wanted him to be.” 

The standout runner of the day for the Profs was senior Joshua Cason, as he placed 16th out of 378 runners with a time of 25:02.8.

“He executed the race plan perfectly and moved up the whole time,” said Dimit. “We talked about wanting to be in that top, 15 to 20 and he finished 16th passing a bunch of guys at the end.” 

As a result of his performance, Cason was named the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) Men’s Cross Country Runner of the Week. It’s the first time the senior has won the award in his collegiate career.

“I was really excited,” said Cason. “I was really happy. That was my first time getting that award. So it was special to me. It meant something, especially in my last season in cross country. It’s great to have, definitely, to add it to the accolade list.”

While Cason was excited to be in the top 20, he knows what the team needs to improve on and what he needs to work on before the next race. 

“Maybe we can work on trying to stay together as a pack,” said Cason. “You know, that’s something we gotta work on, like, exchanging, I guess, exchanging, leading our packs. I guess something that I could work on is my final stride or my final kick. I think I could have done better. Maybe I could have gone sub-25 at Lehigh if I had a better kick.”

The Profs’ next meet will be the ninth annual Border Battle at DREAM Park in Logan Township, which takes place on Saturday, Oct. 19 at 11 a.m. Dimit is beyond thrilled not only to be hosting this event but for all the nationally ranked schools to come and participate in the course as well.

“One of the best in the country every year with nationally ranked people coming it’s always great to see,” said Dimit. “I think our guys like everybody being able to come, you know, parents and family and friends to come and be able to see them and, you know, really take pride in our course.”

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