Lehigh University Athletics
Lehigh shoots for sweep over archrival Leopards
4/2/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field, Track and Field, Women's Track and Field
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The Mountain Hawks rolled to huge victories on the cross country course in September. The men ran away with a 50-15 blowout victory, and the women followed it up with a convincing 40-21 victory on Goodman Campus. Four months later, the men’s and women’s indoor track and field teams extended the streak to four consecutive wins with a 96-85 win on the men’s side and a 101-80 victory on the women’s side.
“We have the opportunity to run the table and our kids are excited,” Lehigh head coach Matt Utesch said of the rivalry. “It feels completely different completing something like this than it does to have a chance to complete it. They certainly aren’t going to roll over for us.”
Lehigh track and field held its first intercollegiate meet on May 14, 1881, and the opponent was none other than the Leopards from
The schools have met 108 times in outdoor track and field competition in the 128 years since the initial meeting. The Leopards control the overall men’s series with a 63-42-3 advantage, but Lehigh has been equally in control over its arch rival since 1970. In that span of 39 meetings, the Brown and White has compiled a 29-10 record on the outdoor track. Lehigh won 12 straight meets from 1976-1987, and comes into the weekend’s meet winners of five of the last six and seven of the last nine.
On the women’s side, the Leopards have been able to control the bragging rights more frequently, winning 18 of the 21 meetings since the women’s series began in 1988. Lehigh has not won a women’s outdoor track competition over
Lehigh dominated the rivalry with
“As we plan for this we look back on the indoor meet,” Utesch said. “But we know it’s a very different meet. We add quite a few events and we take away some events that are our strengths.”
The Mountain Hawks are looking to complete the sweep of all six events against their arch rival for the first time since 2001, and that potential accomplishment is not lost on either side, Utesch said. Because regardless of who won the first four competitions, this will be the last chance to make a statement in the rivalry until next fall.
“The pressure comes from the fact that we beat them four times already,” he said. “They really badly don’t want us to sweep them; and we really badly want to sweep them.”
Keep an eye on…
Men’s field events: Utesch said the key events on the men’s side will come in the field. Nick Ray set a new personal record in the hammer, and if he can score a win that would add some key points to the team score. Khalik Uqdah missed out on the indoor competition in January, and he can give Lehigh big points by winning an event the Mountain Hawks dropped to the Leopards in the indoor competition. It’s also not just about winning, it’s about taking the top two spots in several events, Utesch said.
Women’s track events: The balance of power on the women’s side may hinge on the track events on Saturday. Look for Lehigh to make up ground in the 200 and 400 behind new-school-record holder Latasha Watson and in the 800 behind Sarah Serwo and Jen Therkorn. The 400 hurdles and 8K will be huge here as well, Utesch said.
