Lehigh University
Lafayette
Lehigh is swept by archrival Leopards
1/24/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field, Track and Field, Women's Track and Field
Bethlehem, PA – Lehigh was swept by its archrival Lafayette at the annual indoor meet on Saturday afternoon at Rauch Fieldhouse. The men lost 94-87, while the women fell in the final event, causing them to drop the overall competition, 91-90. It was the third straight year that the Leopards defeated the Mountain Hawks on the men’s side, while in the women’s competition, Lehigh hasn’t won since the 1991 season.
Individual winners for Lehigh on the men’s side were senior Francis Vincent, who took home titles in the long jump and triple jump, sophomore Vaclav Malek took the high jump title with a leap of 6’7”, and Jesse Ohm won the pole vault, clearing 4.65m, as Lehigh faired well in the field events. On the track, Lehigh struggled, but did manage to win the 3000m race, as sophomore Mark Swanson raced to a title and the 4x400 team of Aaron Lynn, Bryan Herbst, John Hein and Malek defeated the Leopards in relatively easy fashion.
In the women’s competition, junior Lindsay Hinsch took the triple jump title with a leap of 11.02, junior Khayla Lowe raced to a first place finish with a time of 9.24 in the 60meter hurdles, and sophomore Kimberly Rhodes took first place in a pair of races, including the 200m and the 400m. Other Lehigh winners on the women’s side were junior Andrea Luebbe in the one-mile run and the 3000m, while Hinsch also took first in the long jump. K.T. Hessler was victorious in the high jump, clearing 5’5”, but in the end Lafayette came away with the win.
Head Coach Matt Utesh was pleased with some of the individual performances of his team. “The people we knew would do well, did well. Francis Vincent did well, Lindsay Hinsch, Vacalv Malek and Liz Haight, in her first season as a captain has stepped up and done some really nice things for us.”
Utesch thought his Mountain Hawks could have come away with the win. “We just did not step up today. We had plenty of opportunities, but did not take advantage.” Utesch continues, “We came out very well, I felt good at the beginning, but in the end, Lafayette was just hungrier, they wanted it more. I give them credit.”
Where does Lehigh go from here? “Well, next week we have the Covert and that is a winnable meet, it will be a good meet to get some of our team chemistry back. Last season going into the Patriot League Championships, we had some solid chemistry, so we’ll see if we can get that back in the coming weeks.”
Lehigh returns to action next Saturday, January 31, when the Mountain Hawks host the John Covert Classic from Rauch Fieldhouse. The meet is scheduled to get underway at 12:00.
