Lehigh University
Lafayette Invite
Mountain Hawks battle weather at Lafayette
10/17/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country, Women's Cross Country, Cross Country
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EASTON, Pa. – The Lehigh cross country teams didn’t let the rain stop them Saturday morning as they competed in the Lafayette Invitational. The men’s team finished in second place with 50 points and the women earned a fourth place finish with 62 points. Several of the Mountain Hawks were scheduled to compete in the Penn State National Invite on Friday morning, but because of inclement weather they did not run.
“Well there is no question it was a long weekend for us,” women’s coach Debbie Utesch said. “It’s tough when you have to rebound and run at a different competition, but we got the opportunity and we didn’t capitalize.”
"I was really proud how we bounced back after having the meet canceled yesterday," men's coach Todd Etters said. "We ran well today in miserable conditons."
Senior captain Douglas Ridyard was Lehigh’s top finisher as he earned a fifth place finish with a time of 26:24.8. Sophomore Evan Flach was the only other Mountain Hawk to place in the top-ten as he finished in ninth with a time of 26:33.4. Steve Sample, Evans Kosgei, and Lyle O’Brien placed 11-13 to help Lehigh finish strong.
"Doug Ridyard ran very well today," Etters said. "We had our 1-5 split within 15 seconds of eachother and the conditions we faced should really help prepare us for the Patriot League Championship."
The University of Connecticut, who finished in first place in the men’s race with 41 points, had the top-two individual finishers.
The Lehigh women were led by sophomore Katherine Pierce who finished the race in 2nd place with a time of 21:54.3.
“Pierce ran well and was almost able to win the race,” Utesch said.
The Mountain Hawk women had four other runners finish in the top-twenty and they included Kaitlin Grimm, Andrea Mascaro, Jen Curran, and Dana Stellar.
Lafayette was able to defend its home course and finish in first place as the Leopards had four runners in the top-ten.
“Lafayette did a good job to win the race,” Utesch said. “Our pack was not as aggressive as we needed to be to run with them today.”
The Mountain Hawks will be idle next week and then both teams will head up to Hamilton, N.Y. for the Patriot League Championship on Saturday October 31.
