Lehigh University Athletics
Women's XC wins sixth straight Lafayette Dual
9/25/2010 6:48:00 PM | Women's Cross Country
EASTON, Pa. – The Lehigh women's cross country team set the tone for the 2010-11 edition of the Lehigh-Lafayette rivalry with a 25-34 victory over the Leopards on Saturday morning. Junior Katherine Pierce finished the 6K second overall with a time of 21:32.3 to pace seven Lehigh runners in the top 10. With the victory, the Mountain Hawks have now won six straight dual meets against Lafayette.
"I think the way the last couple meets have gone shows that we have a lot of depth on our team," women's coach Debbie Utesch said. "It was depth that won the meet today."
Senior Kaitlin Grimm set a new personal best in the 6K with a time of 21:47.7 to take fourth, while freshman Jessica Kendzor (21:49.8) and senior Andrea Mascaro (22:03.0) finished fifth and sixth in that order. Freshman Hannah Pierce placed eighth, junior Carolyn Morse took ninth and freshman Katherine Howley finished 10th.
"I thought Jessica Kendzor ran a great race and Kaitlin Grimm certainly loves this course as well," Utesch explained. "There was a lot of pressure on Katherine Pierce to do some work up front, and although she would have liked to come away with the win, she still did her job. It was really a great team effort today."
Utesch continued, "Our young kids ran really well. They've been doing a great job in practice and have bought into our system of training with the other girls. It's not always easy for freshmen because they are used to being the number one runner on their high school teams. Our girls have made the adjustment and have realized that they aren't the number one runners, but they have seen just how valuable they really are."
The Mountain Hawks will return to their home course on October 1 for the 37th-annual Brooks-Paul Short Run. The all-day event will open with collegiate races throughout the morning and high school competitions into the afternoon. Over 220 colleges and high schools are scheduled to compete.
