Lehigh splits dual with Lafayette

Bethlehem, PA – Lehigh split a dual meet with archrival Lafayette Sunday morning on the Goodman Campus. The Mountain Hawk men dominated, taking the first seven spots for a perfect score of 15. The Lehigh women, who had tied for first with Lafayette at the season-opening Lehigh Valley Championships, fell 24-34 in an extremely competitive race.

Lehigh sophomore Sean Swift was the overall winner with a time of 26:30.1. Sophomore Victor Vientos, the overall winner at the Lehigh Valley Championships and the reigning Patriot League Runner of the Week, placed second, less than a second behind Swift. The other Lehigh runners in the front group were seniors Sam Kirk and Mark Swanson, sophomore Brendan Glover, senior Alex Hudgins and junior Rob Hampson. Lafayette’s top finisher was junior Nick Birosik.

“Our biggest asset is our depth, and we were able to showcase that strength today,” said Lehigh head coach Debbie Utesch. “We have big goals for the end of the season, and we’re training at a very high volume right now and we’re focused on accomplishing our goals six weeks from now.”

Sophomore Jen Schappert paced Lehigh, taking first place with a time of 23:04.8. But the Lafayette women, led by junior Hannah Tuson in second place, had four of the top six finishers and took victory despite a valiant effort from Lehigh sophomore Sarah Seiler, who overcame a Lafayette runner for tenth place within sight of the finish line.

“Jen (Schappert) did an excellent job, this was her first collegiate cross-country win. She’s really stepped into a leadership role for this team with her performances,” Utesch said. “This is a great rivalry, and it’s just too bad that we came up on the short end of the stick today.”

Lehigh returns to action next Saturday as Goodman Campus will host the famous Paul Short Run. More than 75 high school and college programs will participate, in addition to an open division. Races are scheduled to start at 10 a.m.

WOMEN’S RESULTS