Lehigh University Athletics
Three Mountain Hawks qualify for Regionals
5/16/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field, Track and Field, Women's Track and Field
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PRINCETON, N.J. – Lehigh had a strong Saturday at the 2009 IC4A/ECAC Outdoor Championships as school records fell, personal records were established and three NCAA Regional tickets were punched. Senior Sarah Serwo broke her own school record in the 800 with a time of 2:09.65 to place ninth in a tough field of competitors as she earned a berth to the NCAA Regional. She backed that performance up by running one leg for the 4x800 relay team, which qualified for Sunday’s final with a time of 8:58.38. Jillian Randolph, Jen Therkorn and Shannon Alejandro joined Serwo in the relay. In men’s action, junior Khalil Uqdah posted his best jump of the season as he cleared 16’6 3/4”in the pole vault to place second, while sophomore James Pachucki placed third in the javelin with a personal best throw of 207’11”. Uqdah and Pachucki join Serwo as Regional qualifiers.
“I’m extremely happy with our performance today,” Lehigh head coach Matt Utesch said afterwards. “We had our backs against the wall and had to have better marks than we had all season and that’s exactly what we got.”
The women’s 4x800 relay team finished seventh out of 23 entries, with a time of 8:58.38. That placed the Mountain Hawks in front of Yale, Fordham, La Salle, Rutgers, Seton Hall, Delaware and UMass among others.
“For Sarah to run that time in the 800 and then come back to run in the relay is incredible,” Utesch commented. “We’re all looking forward to what the relay team can do on Sunday. They’ve been looking very strong of late.”
Uqdah backed up his first place finish of a year ago with a strong second place showing in the pole vault. Pachucki finished third in the javelin for the second consecutive year, and did it with another personal record; this one covering 207’11”. For their top-three finishes Uqdah and Pachucki earn All-East accolades.
“Khalil showed what he’s able to do when he’s feeling good and that was great to see. James had another strong day at this meet; those guys really stepped it up today.”
Other Mountain Hawks in action included senior E.J. Shuck in the long jump, as he posted a jump of 22’1 3/4” to place 22nd, and the women’s 4x100 relay team, which consisted of Alex Doersam, Latasha Watson, Allison Grese and Lindsey Corbetta, crossed in 48.47 seconds.
On Sunday, juniors Frank Johnson (triple jump) and Nick Ray (shot put) along with the women’s 4x800 relay team will compete for Lehigh. Johnson’s event gets underway at 11:00 AM, while Ray will compete at 1:00 and the 4x800 team will run at 2:50.
“We need more of the same tomorrow,” Utesch commented. “We need Frank and Nick to do more than they’ve been doing and the relay team needs to keep running as well it has of late."
