Lehigh University Athletics
Mountain Hawks travel to Penn State Relays
1/9/2009 10:45:00 AM | Men's Track and Field, Track and Field, Women's Track and Field
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Lehigh hasn’t competed in a meet since hosting the Lehigh Season Opener on Dec. 5, and the first meet of the New Year will give the coaches and athletes a chance to see how the team has progressed over winter break.
“The toughest part is the mental aspect,” head coach Matt Utesch said. “When you’re working out on your own over winter break, you can only do so much without people being their to push you. But we’re hoping to pick up where we left off in December.”
In the team’s only meet this season, the Mountain Hawks won individual titles in 15 of the 30 events on the men’s and women’s sides combined. The meet went unscored, but it proved to be a great opportunity for the freshman athletes to show off their skills.
The Penn State Relays will also be an unscored meet, but it will give the Lehigh athletes the opportunity to face serious competition on an individual basis. The Nittany Lions women finished in fourth place as a team in last year’s NCAA Championships.
The meet also gives the Mountain Hawks a chance to show off their abilities on what the Lehigh coaches called one of the best tracks in the country.
“We want to show the Patriot League that we mean business early on,” Utesch said. “We’d like to put up good times on a fast track and build going into our meet against a league rival at Bucknell.”
Keep an eye on…
Scott Robinson: The senior hurdler is racing in his first 500-meter hurdles of the season. Robinson won the Patriot League title in that event at last year’s indoor championships.
Shannon Alejandro: The senior made a name for herself in cross country, finishing fifth in the Patriot League Championship this fall. But Alejandro may be even better at shorter distances and she is looking to make noise in the distance medley relay.
Latasha Watson: Watson holds a school record in the 400 meter outdoors but she will be running her first-ever 500 meters at
Franklin Johnson: Johnson hasn’t competed yet this season, and he may face his toughest competition of the season when he goes up against
