University of Georgia Athletics
Drop Highlights Bulldogs’ Showing At Paul Short Run
October 07, 2019 | Cross Country
BETHLEHEM, Pa. --- Senior Jessica Drop shined again for Georgia's cross country teams during their competition at the at the 46th-annual Paul Short Run in Bethlehem, Pa., on Saturday.
Team Results & Individual Leaders: Behind Drop's performance, the Lady Bulldogs battled for a seventh-place finish in the 43-team field after scoring 250 points in their 6k race. The Georgia men completed their day in 27th-place finish with a total of 684 following their 8k showdown.
Individually, Drop led UGA for the 17thtime in her career and second time in 2019 with a runner-up finish (19:43.5). The Bulldogs had redshirt freshman Nicholas Yanek finish first for their squad for the third consecutive time after he was 34thwith a 24:02.6 on the Goodman Campus Cross Country Course.
Cunniff's Quotes: "It was a beautiful day for racing and both groups took advantage of the conditions and the competition," said Bulldog distance coach Patrick Cunniff. "I think both the men and women took steps forward and ran more complete team races. Jessica Drop did not feel well and still delivered another amazing performance. She battled with the leaders and ran hard every step to the finish. Samantha fell in the first 200 meters, got trampled, spiked and still managed to pass about 350 people to be number two for us. Anna Marian Block was the breakout of the weekend. She rode her confidence from Vanderbilt to a new higher level and I'm excited by where she can go from here.
"Nicholas Yanek led the men again and just races hard all the time. After that, we were really happy to see a deeper pack of men growing together. To have five men finish in less than 20 seconds between Michael Hans and Jack Bradley is a great sign. All of our men moved up tremendously in the field over the last two miles as well, which is another strong indicator. Michael Malkowski was a particular bright spot, considering at this time last year he had not even started running again. He has battled back after almost a year of complications from a navicular fracture in high school. To deliver a top-five finish for the team and a low 25-minute 8k is remarkable."
The Lowdown: Drop was joined in the Lady Bulldogs' top five by her twin sister junior Samantha Drop, sophomore Anna Marian Block, freshman Ellie Hall and sophomore Nicole Pachuta. While it was Jessica who was at the front of the field, Samantha overcame her early fall and was 38thout of the 365 competitors during her second race of the season.
This marked the first time the Drop sisters had run together since both earned All-America honors at the 2017 NCAA Cross Country Championships. After Samantha won the 2019 opener, Jessica was second at the Commodore Classic during the second meet weekend this year.
Block, who was the No. 2 finisher at the Commodore Classic, was the third Georgia runner across the line with a 41st-place finish (20:49.1) on Saturday. Hall was the fourth Lady Bulldog finisher for the second straight meet after she ran a 21:07.1 for 81stplace. Pachuta made it three meets in a row scoring with her 102nd-place finish thanks to a 21:16.7.
On the men's side, Yanek was the third freshman in the 390-man field to complete the 8k course to lead Georgia. He ran a 24:02.6 for 34thplace. The Bulldogs' final four scorers all finished between 152ndplace and 189thplace with junior Michael Hans leading that group with a 152nd-place finish (24:53.9).
In just his third meet as a Bulldog, junior transfer Taylor Scarbrough took 168thto score for the third meet in a row with a time of 24:58.1. Fellow junior Nate Reichard finished 183rd(25:00.9) to score and redshirt freshman Michael Malkowski managed to take 189thwith a 25:03.3. This marked the first time Malkowski had scored in the red and black.
What's Up Next: Georgia has four regular season meet weekends scheduled with the next and final one being the NCAA Pre-Nationals (Terre Haute, Ind.) and Berry Invitational (Rome, Ga.) on Oct. 19. The SEC Championships arrive in Lexington, Ky., on Friday, Nov. 1.
Keeping Up With The Dogs: Updates from Georgia's track and field and cross country teams can always be found on Twitter/Instagram (UGATrack).
Team Scores
MEN
WOMEN
Men's Individual Finishes
Women's Individual Finishes
Team Results & Individual Leaders: Behind Drop's performance, the Lady Bulldogs battled for a seventh-place finish in the 43-team field after scoring 250 points in their 6k race. The Georgia men completed their day in 27th-place finish with a total of 684 following their 8k showdown.
Individually, Drop led UGA for the 17thtime in her career and second time in 2019 with a runner-up finish (19:43.5). The Bulldogs had redshirt freshman Nicholas Yanek finish first for their squad for the third consecutive time after he was 34thwith a 24:02.6 on the Goodman Campus Cross Country Course.
Cunniff's Quotes: "It was a beautiful day for racing and both groups took advantage of the conditions and the competition," said Bulldog distance coach Patrick Cunniff. "I think both the men and women took steps forward and ran more complete team races. Jessica Drop did not feel well and still delivered another amazing performance. She battled with the leaders and ran hard every step to the finish. Samantha fell in the first 200 meters, got trampled, spiked and still managed to pass about 350 people to be number two for us. Anna Marian Block was the breakout of the weekend. She rode her confidence from Vanderbilt to a new higher level and I'm excited by where she can go from here.
"Nicholas Yanek led the men again and just races hard all the time. After that, we were really happy to see a deeper pack of men growing together. To have five men finish in less than 20 seconds between Michael Hans and Jack Bradley is a great sign. All of our men moved up tremendously in the field over the last two miles as well, which is another strong indicator. Michael Malkowski was a particular bright spot, considering at this time last year he had not even started running again. He has battled back after almost a year of complications from a navicular fracture in high school. To deliver a top-five finish for the team and a low 25-minute 8k is remarkable."
The Lowdown: Drop was joined in the Lady Bulldogs' top five by her twin sister junior Samantha Drop, sophomore Anna Marian Block, freshman Ellie Hall and sophomore Nicole Pachuta. While it was Jessica who was at the front of the field, Samantha overcame her early fall and was 38thout of the 365 competitors during her second race of the season.
This marked the first time the Drop sisters had run together since both earned All-America honors at the 2017 NCAA Cross Country Championships. After Samantha won the 2019 opener, Jessica was second at the Commodore Classic during the second meet weekend this year.
Block, who was the No. 2 finisher at the Commodore Classic, was the third Georgia runner across the line with a 41st-place finish (20:49.1) on Saturday. Hall was the fourth Lady Bulldog finisher for the second straight meet after she ran a 21:07.1 for 81stplace. Pachuta made it three meets in a row scoring with her 102nd-place finish thanks to a 21:16.7.
On the men's side, Yanek was the third freshman in the 390-man field to complete the 8k course to lead Georgia. He ran a 24:02.6 for 34thplace. The Bulldogs' final four scorers all finished between 152ndplace and 189thplace with junior Michael Hans leading that group with a 152nd-place finish (24:53.9).
In just his third meet as a Bulldog, junior transfer Taylor Scarbrough took 168thto score for the third meet in a row with a time of 24:58.1. Fellow junior Nate Reichard finished 183rd(25:00.9) to score and redshirt freshman Michael Malkowski managed to take 189thwith a 25:03.3. This marked the first time Malkowski had scored in the red and black.
What's Up Next: Georgia has four regular season meet weekends scheduled with the next and final one being the NCAA Pre-Nationals (Terre Haute, Ind.) and Berry Invitational (Rome, Ga.) on Oct. 19. The SEC Championships arrive in Lexington, Ky., on Friday, Nov. 1.
Keeping Up With The Dogs: Updates from Georgia's track and field and cross country teams can always be found on Twitter/Instagram (UGATrack).
Team Scores
MEN
- Utah State (54 pts.)
- Penn (152)
- Adams State (193)
- Stony Brook (208)
- Minnesota (231)
WOMEN
- Queen's University (130)
- Adams State (180)
- Penn (181)
- Tennessee (183)
- Georgetown (203)
- Princeton (211)
- GEORGIA (250)
Men's Individual Finishes
- Nicholas Yanek – 34th(24:02.6)
- Michael Hans – 152nd(24:53.9)
- Taylor Scarbrough – 168th(24:58.1)
- Nate Reichard – 183rd(25:00.9)
- Michael Malkowski – 189th(25:03.3)
- Jack Bradley – 210th(25:12.1)
- Quinn Burden – 234th(25:20.3)
- Clay Pender – 265th(25:31.2)
- Wesley John – 285th(25:37.0)
- Nicolas Fontova – 308th(25:51.8)
Women's Individual Finishes
- Jessica Drop – 2nd(19:43.5)
- Samantha Drop – 38th(20:43.8)
- Anna Marian Block – 41st(20:49.1)
- Ellie Hall – 81st(21:07.1)
- Nicole Pachuta – 102nd(21:16.7)
- Skylar English – 110th(21:20.7)
- Caroline McArthur – 181st(21:53.3)
- Marisa Petit – 223rd(22:10.2)
- Grace Clements – 229th(22:12.8)
- Ansley Heavern – 252nd(22:23.9)
Players Mentioned
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