The Lady Bulldogs had three finishers in the top 20 and stormed to a third-place finish at the 44th-annual Paul Short Run in Bethlehem, Pa., on Friday morning.

 
Earlier in the morning, the Georgia men ran the Gold 8k race at the Goodman Campus Course and were 12th as senior Bryan Kamau led the team for the ninth consecutive race bridging the 2016 season.
 
 
“Overall this was a great day for Georgia,” said Bulldog distance coach Patrick Cunniff. “Our women had one of the best team performances in a major invitational for our program in the last five or 10 years. I thought our top six all posted great performances, which bodes well for the future of this season. I think we ran a smart, tough race and competed well throughout.
NCAA South Regional in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Nov. 10 and then prepare for the NCAA Championships at Louisville on Nov. 18.
 
 
“Even though the men didn’t get the team finish we were hoping for, I think we got what we were looking for out of this meet, and that is a lot of guys battling for those four through six spots for us. Our front group didn’t have the best day but I think our seniors will be ready to compete when the big meets get here. We are excited moving forward and are looking forward to see how we stack up when Pre-Nationals and the championship season gets here.”
NCAA South Regional in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Nov. 10 and then prepare for the NCAA Championships at Louisville on Nov. 18.
 
 
The Georgia women, who were 13th at the meet in 2016, had sophomore Jessica Drop be the squad’s top finisher for the eighth time in her nine collegiate races. Drop opened the year by winning her first two races and then finished third overall (19:52) in the Gold 6k race on the Lehigh University campus on Friday. She was also third at the 2016 Paul Short Run.
NCAA South Regional in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Nov. 10 and then prepare for the NCAA Championships at Louisville on Nov. 18.
 
 
Her twin sister, Sam Drop, finished fifth overall after completing the course in 20:00. Drop, who led the Lady Bulldogs at last year’s season-ending NCAA Regional, helped Georgia distance itself from the fourth-place Queen’s University (226) as Utah State (72) and Villanova (115) grabbed the top two spots.
NCAA South Regional in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Nov. 10 and then prepare for the NCAA Championships at Louisville on Nov. 18.
 
 
The third Georgia woman in the top 20 was junior Hailey Branch. Branch scored for the second meet in a row after registering a time of 20:29 in the 368-woman field. The Lady Bulldogs’ final two scorers were junior Grace Tavani (20:45) and sophomore Yanely Gomez (20:51). Tavani has been a Georgia scorer at all three 2017 meets while Gomez has now finished in the top five for UGA in the first and third meets.
NCAA South Regional in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Nov. 10 and then prepare for the NCAA Championships at Louisville on Nov. 18.
 
 
Just as he has for the last two seasons, Kamau was first across the finish line for the Bulldog men, taking 30th with a 24:09. Fellow senior Austin Sprague managed a 40th-place finish in the 359-man race after recording a time of 24:17. This matched the first two finishers for the Bulldogs at the 2016 meet. In the team race, Utah State (119), Georgetown (167) and Adams State (179) finished first through third.
NCAA South Regional in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Nov. 10 and then prepare for the NCAA Championships at Louisville on Nov. 18.
 
 
Another senior, Eric Westog, further established his place in the scoring column as he took 86th (24:44) to be the third Georgia finisher. Opening the season with a fifth-place finish to score at the WCU Cross Country Festival, redshirt sophomore Tyler Jones scored for the Bulldogs in Bethlehem as well. Jones was 92nd (24:46) while senior Jon Moses rounded out UGA’s top five with a 120th-place finish (24:58).
NCAA South Regional in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Nov. 10 and then prepare for the NCAA Championships at Louisville on Nov. 18.
 
 
This was the third of five regular-season meets for the Bulldogs. UGA has the Gene Mullin Invitational (Greenville, S.C. – Oct. 7) up next and then the NCAA Pre-Nationals (Louisville, Ky. – Oct. 14). Following the Southeastern Conference Championships in Athens, the Bulldogs will race at the NCAA South Regional in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Nov. 10 and then prepare for the NCAA Championships at Louisville on Nov. 18.
 
 
Georgia Women (3rd – 121)
 
3rd – Jessica Drop (19:52)
5th – Sam Drop (20:00)
20th – Hailey Branch (20:29)
43rd – Grace Tavani (20:45)
50th – Yanely Gomez
58th – Addy Lippitt (20:54)
177th – Ansley Heavern (21:49)
178th – Caroline Dickey (21:49)
188th – Lauren Hovis (21:54)
234th – Tiffany Yue (22:19)
 
Georgia Men (12th – 368)
 
30th – Bryan Kamau (24:09)
40th – Austin Sprague (24:17)
86th – Eric Westog (24:44)
92nd – Tyler Jones (24:46)
120th – Jon Moses (24:58)
125th – Michael Hans (25:00)
229th – Jack Bradley (25:34)
235th – Jonathan Pelham (25:36)
278th – Darr Smith (25:56)
326th – Ryan Peppenhorst (26:25)