Ruth White has set a blistering pace to start her sophomore cross country season at the University of New Hampshire, and the phenom from Orono doesn’t appear to be slowing down any time soon.
White finished first in her category as part of the Paul Short Run at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania on Friday. That followed previous wins for White in New Hampshire’s first two races of the season.
The Paul Short Run, named for a former Lehigh athletic official, is divided into multiple categories for women’s and men’s cross country at both the college and high school levels. White was competing in the Women’s College Brown 6,000 meter category, which she won with a time of 20:29.4.
She bested a field that featured runners from over 30 different colleges and universities. Other schools competing in the Brown category included George Washington, Iona, Syracuse, Binghamton, Buffalo and American.
White finished roughly 12 seconds ahead of second place runner Tayla Gunton from Iona.
In addition to the Brown category, The Paul Short Run also includes Gold, White and Green 6K women’s collegiate categories. The top times in the Gold group were the fastest overall.
The multi-day event at Lehigh includes more than 7,000 college and high school athletes from over 600 schools, according to the host university.
All White has done so far is win during her sophomore cross country season. She took first place at the Ted Owen Invitational in Connecticut, finishing at the head of the pack with a time of 17:06:6 in the 5,000-meter race on Sept. 20. And she finished first in the season opener on Aug. 30 with a time of 10:59.42 on the 3K home course for UNH.
The strong start to her fall cross country season comes on the heels of a fantastic spring and summer of outdoor track.
White finished eight overall in the Division I national final for the women’s 10K in June. She earned Second Team All-American honors from that performance in Eugene, Oregon. She was named the women’s outdoor track and field performer of the year in the America East Conference later that month.
And in August, she was the top Maine woman finisher in the Beach to Beacon 10K race in Cape Elizabeth.
White was also named the women’s cross country performer of the week in the America East Conference last week.
