Lehigh University Athletics
Saturday, November 2
Easton, Pa.
12 pm
Lehigh University
at
Patriot League Championship
Lehigh seeks first Patriot League Championship since 1992 on Saturday
10/31/2013 1:33:00 PM | Women's Cross Country
Patriot League Championship Central
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh women's cross country team will be in search of its first Patriot League title since 1992, and second in program history, when the Mountain Hawks head to Easton to compete in the Patriot League Championships. The 6K race will be held at Lafayette's Metzgar Athletic Complex and will start at 12 p.m.
"A win would put us in some pretty rare company and would be a huge boost for the program," said head coach Debbie Utesch. "They have performed at such a high level all season, and especially in October, that has taken them to one of the highest regional rankings in program history. We're hoping to continue to build on that."
The Mountain Hawks head into Saturday's race as the highest ranked Patriot League team in the Mid-Altantic Region in the No. 7 spot. American follows closely behind at No. 11, while Bucknell (No. 14) and Navy (No. 15) also appear in the rankings.
"It's a rare opportunity to be in the position to be racing for a Patriot League Championship," said Utesch. "There are probably six teams that are in the hunt for the Patriot League Championship, and we're one of them."
Lehigh enters Saturday's race on the heels of a second place finish at the Penn State National and a seventh place spot in the Leopard Invitational two weeks ago. The Mountain Hawks finished four runners in the top 15, led by sophomore Jennifer Markham in ninth place, at Penn State. Six Mountain Hawks finished the race in less than 23 minutes.
In addition to Markham, Lehigh will look to the strong duo of junior Ingrid Simon and graduate student Rosie Roessel to lead the pack at Saturday's race. The two have impressed all season long and have combined to cross the line as Lehigh's top finishers in all but one race this year.
Roessel, a first year runner who joined the team this fall after a four-year stint on the softball team, impressed right from the start with her fourth place finish at the Lehigh Invitational. Simon claimed first place at the Lehigh-Lafayette Dual and the pair of runners finished neck-and-neck at the 40th Annual Paul Short Run with new personal best times.
"The nice thing is that we're going into the Patriot League Championships as individual racers that don't have to actually do anything different than they've done all season," said Utesch. "They just have to all do it on the same day."
The Mountain Hawks placed fourth at last year's championship race and three Lehigh runners garnered All-Patriot League honors. Simon placed 11th and is Lehigh's top returning runner from the 2012 championship event.
After Saturday's race, the Mountain Hawks will gear up to host the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Qualifier race on Nov. 15. The regional race will be held on the Goodman Campus Cross Country Course.
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh women's cross country team will be in search of its first Patriot League title since 1992, and second in program history, when the Mountain Hawks head to Easton to compete in the Patriot League Championships. The 6K race will be held at Lafayette's Metzgar Athletic Complex and will start at 12 p.m.
"A win would put us in some pretty rare company and would be a huge boost for the program," said head coach Debbie Utesch. "They have performed at such a high level all season, and especially in October, that has taken them to one of the highest regional rankings in program history. We're hoping to continue to build on that."
The Mountain Hawks head into Saturday's race as the highest ranked Patriot League team in the Mid-Altantic Region in the No. 7 spot. American follows closely behind at No. 11, while Bucknell (No. 14) and Navy (No. 15) also appear in the rankings.
"It's a rare opportunity to be in the position to be racing for a Patriot League Championship," said Utesch. "There are probably six teams that are in the hunt for the Patriot League Championship, and we're one of them."
Lehigh enters Saturday's race on the heels of a second place finish at the Penn State National and a seventh place spot in the Leopard Invitational two weeks ago. The Mountain Hawks finished four runners in the top 15, led by sophomore Jennifer Markham in ninth place, at Penn State. Six Mountain Hawks finished the race in less than 23 minutes.
In addition to Markham, Lehigh will look to the strong duo of junior Ingrid Simon and graduate student Rosie Roessel to lead the pack at Saturday's race. The two have impressed all season long and have combined to cross the line as Lehigh's top finishers in all but one race this year.
Roessel, a first year runner who joined the team this fall after a four-year stint on the softball team, impressed right from the start with her fourth place finish at the Lehigh Invitational. Simon claimed first place at the Lehigh-Lafayette Dual and the pair of runners finished neck-and-neck at the 40th Annual Paul Short Run with new personal best times.
"The nice thing is that we're going into the Patriot League Championships as individual racers that don't have to actually do anything different than they've done all season," said Utesch. "They just have to all do it on the same day."
The Mountain Hawks placed fourth at last year's championship race and three Lehigh runners garnered All-Patriot League honors. Simon placed 11th and is Lehigh's top returning runner from the 2012 championship event.
After Saturday's race, the Mountain Hawks will gear up to host the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Qualifier race on Nov. 15. The regional race will be held on the Goodman Campus Cross Country Course.
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