Mountain Hawks set four new school records at Armory Invitational

Friday, February 7

New York, N.Y.

9:00 AM

Lehigh University

Armory Collegiate Invitational

Mountain Hawks set four new school records at Armory Invitational

2/8/2014 6:07:00 PM | Women's Track and Field

Results

NEW YORK – The Lehigh women's track and field team set four new school records in a fantastic showing against some of the nation's top teams at the Armory Collegiate Invitational on Friday and Saturday in New York City. In addition to the record-setting performances, multiple Mountain Hawks recorded ECAC qualifying marks and new personal bests in Lehigh's penultimate meet before Patriot League Championships.

"We went to this meet because we wanted to get faster time and we sure did that," said head coach Matt Utesch. "Not only did we have five school records between the men and the women, but we also had numerous personal bests. As we move closer and closer to the Patriot League Championships, we need to be running our fastest times and we did that very well this weekend."

Freshman Courtney Avery set her second Lehigh record in three weeks as the rookie recorded a 1.75m leap in the high jump. Avery broke her own record of 1.73m that was set just two weeks ago in the Lehigh-Lafayette dual meet. The Wynantskill, N.Y. native's jump put her in third place, finishing only behind jumpers from national powerhouses Arkansas and Arizona and besting athletes from defending national champion Kansas, among others.

Senior Jessica Kendzor claimed fifth place and set a new Lehigh record in the 500 meter dash with an ECAC qualifying mark of 1:14.57. Kendzor's blistering pace crushed the previous school record of 1:16.10 that was set 11 years ago (2003) by Justina Baron. The impressive mark also destroyed Kendzor's previous personal best of 1:17.72.

Senior Danielle Albergo set a new Lehigh standard in the 400 meter dash with a clip of 57.60. Albergo's sprint bested the previous record of 57.73 that was set 13 years ago (2001) by Justina Barone. Albergo's time was good for 29th out of 96 competitors.

Albergo, Kendzor, freshman Lindsay Voltz and junior Halie Carter set a new Lehigh record in the 4x400 meter relay with a time of 3:53.06. The pace bested the previous record of 3:54.41 that was set in 2011.

The distance medley relay team of Kendzor, sophomore Jennifer Markham, junior Ingrid Simon and freshman Amanda Ruschel finished seventh out of 16 teams with an ECAC qualifying mark of 12:04.14.

Simon continued her impressive day with another ECAC qualifying time of 2:55.15 in the 1000 meter run. The mark was good for 25th place out of the 51 competitors.

Sophomore Elizabeth Weiler turned out her own ECAC qualifying mark in the 5000 meter run with a time of 17:28.81. Weiler crushed her previous personal best by over a minute and finished tenth in the event.

Markham set another personal best in the 3000 meter, this time with an impressive time of 10:02.05 that was good for 15th of 27.

Other impressive Mountain Hawk finishes included Brooke Astor (8.75) and Serenah Polite (8.95) in the 60 meter hurdles and freshman Katie Hatler in the 60 meter dash (7.98).

The Mountain Hawks head to the Bucknell Tune-Up next Friday in their final meet before Patriot League Championships. The league championship meet will take place at Bucknell from Feb. 21-23.