Lehigh University Athletics
Lehigh University
IONA Meet of Champs
XC runs hard at Iona Meet of Champions
9/18/2010 11:29:00 PM | Men's Cross Country
BRONX, N.Y. – The Lehigh cross country teams competed at the Iona Meet of Champions on Saturday and came away with a sixth-place finish in the women's race and a 12th-place finish in the men's race. Junior Katherine Pierce was Lehigh's top finisher on the women's side, finishing the 6K race in 10th place with a time of 22:26, while senior Evans Kosgei paced the men's team in the 8K with an 18th-place finish in 25:45.
"Evans went and ran with the top guys today," men's head coach Todd Etters said. "He's right back where we need him to be this season."
La Salle took first place in the 19-team men's meet, while Kentucky finished first in the 18-squad women's event.
Pierce eclipsed her previous Iona Meet of Champions time of 23:24.2 set in her freshman season of 2008. The junior also finished the 6K five seconds faster than her time of 22:31 at the Lehigh Invitational two weekends ago. Mascaro also improved upon her '08 Iona time (24:29.0) with a finish in 23:08.8.
Freshman Hannah Pierce finished 43rd in the field of 164 runners, while freshmen Jessica Kendzor and Katherine Howley placed 45th and 47th, respectively. Senior Kaitlin Grimm crossed the finish in 61st and junior Megan Hetzel finished 71st.
Running in his first meet of the season, Kosgei finished less than a minute off the pace set by race-winner Eric Finan of Cincinnati. Jervis finished the race in 43rd place with a time of 26:13.5, which was 29 seconds quicker than his time at the 2008 Iona Meet of Champions as a sophomore. Flach (52nd place) also improved upon his previous meet best with a time of 26:17.2, over a minute faster than his time in 2008.
"A result like today tells us that we still have work to do," Etters explained. "Some of our top guys didn't run as well today, but I was also pleased that other guys were able to step up, like Jervis and our freshmen."
Freshman Tyler Mueller posted another strong finish on Saturday, placing 79th in his first collegiate 8K, while junior Dan Soltan crossed the finish two spots after Mueller in 81st
The Brown and White will be back in action next Saturday at the Lehigh-Lafayette Dual in Easton, Pa. The women's race is scheduled for 9:30 a.m., while the men's race is set to begin at 10:10 a.m.
