Lehigh University Athletics
Track and field set to host first meet of 2008-09
12/4/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field, Track and Field, Women's Track and Field
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After last season’s team relied on a large number of underclassmen, Utesch knows his team has the experience and the talent to compete at a high level in the Patriot League. Now, with another year under their belts and a new crop of talented young athletes entering the mix, Utesch is looking forward to seeing his new team in action for the first time.
“I’m very excited about the freshman class,” Utesch said. “They’re not going to surprise us because we see them every day, but it may surprise some people. And I don’t think those people in the league are going to be happy with what they see.”
The Patriot League released its annual preseason poll on Thursday, placing the Mountain Hawks fourth on the men’s side and fifth on the women’s side. Navy and Army tied for first place on the men’s side while Bucknell took the top spot for the women.
The 2008-09 edition of Lehigh track and field should be one of the most balanced teams of head coach Matt Utesch’s reign. The Mountain Hawks return an IC4A Champion in junior Khalil Uqdah, as well as a trio of NCAA East Regional Outdoor qualifiers (Uqdah, Scott Robinson, James Pachucki) and four All-Patriot League selections (Uqdah, Robinson, Pachucki, E.J. Schuck) in addition to a large number of point scorers to give the Brown and White depth and talent across the board.
Those veteran athletes are excited to make their returns to competition, but the real story on Friday will be introducing the freshmen to the collegiate athletics experience.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing the young kids put it down on the track for the first time,” said Schuck, a senior co-captain and multi-event athlete for the Mountain Hawks. “Sure, you’ve got to practice as hard as you compete, but when you’re out here and the people are cheering, it’s a whole different thing.”
For Alex Doersam, a freshman sprinter and jumper on the women’s track and field team, adjusting to Division I competition is a nerve-wracking experience. She competes in several events – the 100, 200, 400, triple jump and long jump – and she has to prepare for them all equally. She also has to adjust to running in a different environment, not just with the crowd, but also with the size of the venue.
“I’m really nervous,” Doersam said. “I never ran winter track in high school so I’ve never raced on a 200m track before. But I think it’s a little comforting to start here (at Rauch) because I’ve been practicing on this track.”
Utesch said the benefit for the freshmen heading into this meet is that they’ve already been training more with Lehigh than they ever did in a season in high school. Now it’s just about showing off all the hard work on a competitive stage.
But it’s not just the freshmen who will be working out the kinks on Friday. Most of the athletes have been away from competitive college track for seven months, and this meet will give them the opportunity to show how much they’ve developed in the offseason.
“I really want to see our kids implement what we’ve worked on,” Utesch said. “I don’t care as much about the results; I care that they do the technical things correctly. If we don’t jump far or high, or run fast, that’s OK.”
Even more with just individual improvements, Friday gives the Mountain Hawks their first chance to create team bonds through competition, which may be the most important thing, said Schuck.
“Everyone needs to be cheering each other on,” Schuck said. “This is the first chance for us to come together, especially on our home track.”
