TOWSON, Md. --- Moravian University junior Tara Smurla has garnered her fourth Landmark Conference Women's Cross Country Athlete of the Week honor of the 2024 season for her performance last week.

Smurla finished 21st of 387 in the Paul Short Run White race with a personal best time of 21:58.4 on the 6,000-meter course on the Lehigh University Goodman Campus. Smurla's time is the 17th best in program history and makes her the sixth fastest runner in school history. The Greyhounds placed 32nd of 46 teams in the race.

"This race bumped Tara up a spot on our All-Time list to #6 and reaffirmed to us that we feel she can place top 100 at NCAAs in November," noted Director of Cross Country and Track & Field Jesse Baumann. "With that being said, both of us agreed that she still has a lot more she can do based on what her training is showing, including her long run on Sunday which she finished with a sub 6:00 14th mile. The remainder of courses for our season are flat so some of the rhythm-altering hills like you see at Paul Short won't be a factor and I think will ultimately benefit her and where the potential her training is showing us she has right now."

The Hounds are scheduled to return to action on Saturday, October 19 when the squad travels to Mike Woods Invitational hosted by SUNY Geneseo at the Wartime Plane Museum with the race set to begin at 11:00 a.m.