Lehigh University
Patriot League Championship
Mountain Hawks finish strong at the PLC
5/1/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field, Track and Field, Women's Track and Field
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LEWISBURG, Pa. – Following a good first day at the 2010 Patriot League Outdoor Championships, Lehigh was once again led by its seniors, as both teams came away with some great performances on Saturday at Christy Mathewson-Memorial Stadium. The Mountain Hawks had three more student-athletes garner All-League recognition, as seniors Nick Ray (shot put) and Catherine Bigelow (heptathlon) won their events, while sophomore Stephen Tutunjian took second in the triple jump. The women (73 points) and the men (72 points) both finished in fifth place on their respective sides.
“I thought both teams had very strong meets despite facing some injuries,” head coach Matt Utesch said. “Looking back on the season, I think we have to honor our seniors because you just don’t have the type of success that we’ve had without them laying it on the line each and every day.”
Ray was able to defend his indoor shot put title and come out and take first place with a throw of 54’ 2.75”. Bigelow, who won the heptathlon with 4,523 points, took first in the 100 meter hurdles and long jump to edge out seven other competitors. Her classmate Kathryn McLaughlin took third in the heptathlon with 4,328 points, as she won the high jump and 800 meter run.
Tutunjian set a new personal best in the triple jump by a foot and a half with a total of 49’ 3.75” feet to place second and qualify for IC4As. Senior co-captain Franklin Johnson, who has only competed in two meets during the outdoor season due to injury, picked up a point for Lehigh with a total of 46’ 8.75 feet in the triple jump.
Some of the other seniors who had strong meets included Dana Stellar, who finished fourth in the 3000 meter steeple chase, Nicole Page, who took sixth in the steeple and Kaitlin Grimm, who placed third in the 5,000 meters with a time of 18:03.14.
Led by senior co-captain Matt Foley the men’s 4X800 relay team of freshman Vincent Chiusano and juniors Kyle O’Connor and Stephen Abate earned a trip to IC4As, as they finished the relay in a time of 7:38.05.
Sophomore Ifeanyi Edochie picked up six points in the 400 meters, as he finished in third with a time of 48.71. Freshman Jessica Perone continued her strong season in the hurdles with a third place finish in the 400 meter hurdles in a time of 1:03.97. Sophomore Kyle Forrest placed third in the decathlon with a total of 6, 238 points, as he took first in the 1,500 and 400 meters.
“I was proud of the way our underclassmen went out and competed this weekend,” Utesch said. “We have a young team that includes several talented student-athletes and the future looks really bright.”
Utesch continued talking about the remainder of the season. “For some of our athletes the season isn’t over. We still have to more meets and it all starts in two weeks at IC4As/ECACs."
Several Mountain Hawks will be back in action on May 14-16 at IC4As (men) and ECACs (women), which are being held at Princeton. Check back to Lehighsports.com for the latest updates surrounding both teams.
