Mountain Hawks Prepare to Host Patriot League Championship
10/30/2014 3:51:00 PM | Cross Country
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh men's and women's cross country teams return home Saturday to host the 2014 Patriot League Championships, on the Goodman Campus cross country course. The last time the Patriot League Championships were held at Lehigh was in 2011 where the women finished in fifth place and the men finished in third.
At last year's championship race, the Lehigh women finished in second place for their best finish since 2000, with Boston U capturing the 2013 title. Junior Jennifer Markham led the way for the Mounatin Hawks finishing in fourth place and earning first team All-Patriot League honors. Senior Ingrid Simon crossed the line at last year's championship in ninth place with junior Elizabeth Weiler close behind in tenth place. Both runners earned second team All-Patriot League honors.
"The key component now in preparation for the Patriot League Championships has been more rest," said Head coach Debbie Utesch. "The hardest work is behind us, we've kept the same intensity with our workouts but just a little less volume. The extra rest will really help us be ready to go on Saturday."
The Mountain Hawks recently ran a strong race at the Princeton Invitational on October 18, finishing in eighth place out of 35 teams.
Going into the Patriot League Championships, Lehigh is ranked 13th in the Mid-Atlantic region, where Navy is ranked ninth and Bucknell is ranked 14th.
"There are probably five teams in the hunt for the title on the women's side," said Utesch. "It's Boston's race to lose, and after that, it's Army, Navy, Bucknell, and our team, and everyone is really within 20 seconds of each other. It's going to all come down to the last thousand meters."
This year, Weiler has won four Runner of the Week awards in her standout junior campaign. After winning individual titles at the Lehigh Invitational and Lehigh-Lafayette dual meet, the junior went on to finish in 17th place out of 390 runners at the Roy Griak Invitational before making history at the 41st annual Paul Short Run. Weiler ran a personal best time of 20:28, which is now the fastest time a Lehigh woman has ever run on the course. Simon has also added to Lehigh's strength this year, finishing in second place at the Lehigh-Lafayette dual meet and finishing in 17th place at the Princeton Invitational with a time of 22:09.
"Elizabeth is very focused," said Utesch. "She obviously wants to run up front and is conscious of a pretty good race plan, both Liz and Ingrid have very definitive goals with where they want to finish. There are a number of women who can be in our other five spots, and they are working hard to get there and are focused on tightening up our pack."
The women's cross country Patriot League Championship will begin at 11 a.m.
At last year's championship race, the Lehigh men finished in second place with Navy capturing the 2013 title. Former senior captain Tyler Mueller took the individual title and was named the Patriot League Runner of the Year, being the first Mountain Hawk to do so. Senior Ryan Mahalsky finished in a very impressive third place, earning first team All-Patriot League honors. In 2012, the Mountain Hawks won their first ever Patriot League championship, lead by Mahalsky and graduate student Jimmy Miller.
"Most of our preparation for the Patriot League Championships has been mental preparation and strategy talk," said head coach Todd Etters. "We're just trying to get the guys as confident and focused as we really can."
The Mountain Hawks recently split to run at the Princeton Invitational and Pre-Nationals, finishing in 21st out of 37 teams at Princeton and 28th out of 46 teams at Pre-Nationals.
Going into the Patriot League Championships, Lehigh is ranked eighth in the Mid-Atlantic region with Navy ranked sixth and Bucknell ranked ninth.
"We really match up well against the competition this year," said Etters. "We're mostly concerned with what we're able to do as a team and we really want to just run our best race. Navy showed what they're capable of at Paul Short this year, and there are other teams in the league that might seem to be under the radar, but not from our point of view. We expect to have to go into the race ready to run at our best no matter what."
This year, Mahalsky has won two individual events before running an almost record breaking time with an 11th place finish at the 41st annual Paul Short Run, followed by an outstanding performance at Pre-Nationals, where the senior finished in 13th place out of 311 runners, only finishing 20 seconds behind last year's national champion. Lehigh also finds strength in Miller who finished in 41st place with a time of 24:41 at the Paul Short Run and in 87th place at Pre-Nationals. Senior Nick Ward has shown impressive finishes this year as well, finishing second at the Lehigh Invitational and Lehigh-Lafayette dual meet, along with Simon Voorhees finishing in seventh at the Lehigh Invitational, and fourth at the Lehigh-Lafayette dual meet.
"I'd love to see Ryan be able to win the championship individually," said Etters. "That has been his focus all year long and it's probably going to come down to him and a few other guys. Based on where Ryan was two weeks ago, I'm very confident that he can win it. We're hoping to get Jimmy into a first team All-Patriot League position, and we're going to need to have our other guys be All-League in order to make a run at the team championship."
The men's cross country Patriot League Championship will begin at 12 p.m.
Complete results of both races will be posted on LehighSports.com after the conclusion of the meet.
At last year's championship race, the Lehigh women finished in second place for their best finish since 2000, with Boston U capturing the 2013 title. Junior Jennifer Markham led the way for the Mounatin Hawks finishing in fourth place and earning first team All-Patriot League honors. Senior Ingrid Simon crossed the line at last year's championship in ninth place with junior Elizabeth Weiler close behind in tenth place. Both runners earned second team All-Patriot League honors.
"The key component now in preparation for the Patriot League Championships has been more rest," said Head coach Debbie Utesch. "The hardest work is behind us, we've kept the same intensity with our workouts but just a little less volume. The extra rest will really help us be ready to go on Saturday."
The Mountain Hawks recently ran a strong race at the Princeton Invitational on October 18, finishing in eighth place out of 35 teams.
Going into the Patriot League Championships, Lehigh is ranked 13th in the Mid-Atlantic region, where Navy is ranked ninth and Bucknell is ranked 14th.
"There are probably five teams in the hunt for the title on the women's side," said Utesch. "It's Boston's race to lose, and after that, it's Army, Navy, Bucknell, and our team, and everyone is really within 20 seconds of each other. It's going to all come down to the last thousand meters."
This year, Weiler has won four Runner of the Week awards in her standout junior campaign. After winning individual titles at the Lehigh Invitational and Lehigh-Lafayette dual meet, the junior went on to finish in 17th place out of 390 runners at the Roy Griak Invitational before making history at the 41st annual Paul Short Run. Weiler ran a personal best time of 20:28, which is now the fastest time a Lehigh woman has ever run on the course. Simon has also added to Lehigh's strength this year, finishing in second place at the Lehigh-Lafayette dual meet and finishing in 17th place at the Princeton Invitational with a time of 22:09.
"Elizabeth is very focused," said Utesch. "She obviously wants to run up front and is conscious of a pretty good race plan, both Liz and Ingrid have very definitive goals with where they want to finish. There are a number of women who can be in our other five spots, and they are working hard to get there and are focused on tightening up our pack."
The women's cross country Patriot League Championship will begin at 11 a.m.
At last year's championship race, the Lehigh men finished in second place with Navy capturing the 2013 title. Former senior captain Tyler Mueller took the individual title and was named the Patriot League Runner of the Year, being the first Mountain Hawk to do so. Senior Ryan Mahalsky finished in a very impressive third place, earning first team All-Patriot League honors. In 2012, the Mountain Hawks won their first ever Patriot League championship, lead by Mahalsky and graduate student Jimmy Miller.
"Most of our preparation for the Patriot League Championships has been mental preparation and strategy talk," said head coach Todd Etters. "We're just trying to get the guys as confident and focused as we really can."
The Mountain Hawks recently split to run at the Princeton Invitational and Pre-Nationals, finishing in 21st out of 37 teams at Princeton and 28th out of 46 teams at Pre-Nationals.
Going into the Patriot League Championships, Lehigh is ranked eighth in the Mid-Atlantic region with Navy ranked sixth and Bucknell ranked ninth.
"We really match up well against the competition this year," said Etters. "We're mostly concerned with what we're able to do as a team and we really want to just run our best race. Navy showed what they're capable of at Paul Short this year, and there are other teams in the league that might seem to be under the radar, but not from our point of view. We expect to have to go into the race ready to run at our best no matter what."
This year, Mahalsky has won two individual events before running an almost record breaking time with an 11th place finish at the 41st annual Paul Short Run, followed by an outstanding performance at Pre-Nationals, where the senior finished in 13th place out of 311 runners, only finishing 20 seconds behind last year's national champion. Lehigh also finds strength in Miller who finished in 41st place with a time of 24:41 at the Paul Short Run and in 87th place at Pre-Nationals. Senior Nick Ward has shown impressive finishes this year as well, finishing second at the Lehigh Invitational and Lehigh-Lafayette dual meet, along with Simon Voorhees finishing in seventh at the Lehigh Invitational, and fourth at the Lehigh-Lafayette dual meet.
"I'd love to see Ryan be able to win the championship individually," said Etters. "That has been his focus all year long and it's probably going to come down to him and a few other guys. Based on where Ryan was two weeks ago, I'm very confident that he can win it. We're hoping to get Jimmy into a first team All-Patriot League position, and we're going to need to have our other guys be All-League in order to make a run at the team championship."
The men's cross country Patriot League Championship will begin at 12 p.m.
Complete results of both races will be posted on LehighSports.com after the conclusion of the meet.
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