Lehigh University Athletics
Swimmers run to help fight against breast cancer
10/22/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving, Swimming and Diving, Women's Swimming and Diving
Bethlehem, PA- Last year, the Lehigh swimming and diving teams spent a great deal of their preseason training running while the pool facilities were being cleaned and fixed. This year, when it came time to decide what community service projects the team would do, they decided to keep their running shoes on. Last weekend, the women’s team competed in the Women’s 5K Classic, a charity event organized each year to raise funds to fight breast cancer. Head coach John Morrison said the team has placed a greater emphasis on giving back this year. “We always want to do outreach work, but this year we wanted to do more,” said Morrison. “This was a great cause, and our athletes really enjoyed competing and raising money.” And compete they did, as a few of the women did very well. Dana Berkowitz had the best time in her age group, as did Alysa Zellner. Sophomore Heather Ford finished second to Zellner, but was just happy to take part. “You don’t really know the impact you can have on people,” said Ford, “until you participate in a race like this and meet people who are survivors. They were just so happy to have us there, it was really exciting.” Although the race was strictly for women, it didn’t stop the men’s team from coming along for support. Senior co-captain Brian Golebiewski said the team found their own way to contribute. “We came to support the girls and helped out where we could,” said Golebiewski. “We parked cars, cheered the racers, it was great.” When asked if he thought the men could have run, Golebiewski said they were happy to play the role that they did: “The girls are a lot better runners than us – we probably wouldn’t have even made it to the finish line!” The teams will take off their running shoes and hit the pool this weekend as they begin their season in
