Lehigh University Athletics
Astor’s Lehigh journey leads to aspirations beyond the Patriot League
4/30/2014 12:20:00 PM | Women's Track and Field
For 
said Astor's selflessness is part of what makes her a superstar.
"She's set apart from other kids because of her attitude towards the team and toward people," Utesch said. "She's working for everybody not just herself."
Utesch stressed Astor's leadership role on the team, a role that Astor said took her some time to tackle.
"I like leading by example," Astor said. "When I was a junior I learned a lot from Kristin Slotnick who was a really vocal captain and that helped me become a more vocal leader when I was captain as a senior.
Now that she is in the leadership role, the reigning Patriot League Champion wants to focus on setting an example for the younger members of the squad.
"As a senior I want to be involved and have the ability to influence [the underclassmen] while I'm still here and leave the team better off."
Utesch said Astor is a servant leader, meaning she does everything she can to serve the team.
"I think she always wanted to be a leader," said Utesch. "She comes from a family that's great and she's had a great example from her parents. She also thinks about each situation that she's in and says, 'what would a good leader do?' and 'what needs to be done and how can I do it?'"
Astor's path to greatness started back in her freshman year at Spotswood High School when she began running cross country to stay in shape for basketball season.
"Basketball was my main sport back then, and in the spring I had to make the choice between softball and track," Astor said.
She clearly made the right choice.
While she was athletic, Astor didn't just start out as one of the most talented multi athletes in the nation. She began her career as a sprinter, running the 200, 400 and the 400-meter hurdles. Her coach, Rowland D'Orvilliers, gradually guided her into more of the field events thinking that Astor had potential to be a competitive multi in college.
"He had a big influence on me," Astor said of her high school coach, "He helped me with the recruiting process for college."
By the end of her senior year, Astor was a 12-letter Varsity athlete and was being recruited by college track and field programs. She made the choice to leave basketball behind and pursue track in college. She ultimately ended up choosing Lehigh not because of its track program, but because of its architecture program.
"It was one of the only places I could do both track and architecture and that was extremely important to me," Astor said. "At other schools, coaches won't even let you major in architecture and run track because it's so time consuming."
As a freshman, Astor said she wasn't trying to be competitive. She focused on improving her times and improving in her least developed multi events, which she proclaims is the shot put.
"She was a lot like everybody else as a freshman," said Utesch. "She was making that adjustment to being in college and being in a college program. But she always wanted to go the extra mile she always wanted to do a little extra work."
She finished her freshman season with a third place finishes at the heptathlon at the outdoor Patriot League Championship.
Astor attributed her improvement between her freshmen and sophomore year greatly to the technical focus coach Utesch stresses in his training program.
"We spent a lot of time freshman year on technique," the senior said. "We focused a lot on my hurdle form and my high jump consistently got better."
Everything came together for Astor as a sophomore during the 2012 Patriot League Championships.
"I was doing the long jump and I stopped focusing on how to jump and more so on just doing it," Astor said. "I felt a lot more confident. It was like turning a new page."
At that moment, she said she felt like she could be a top competitor in the Patriot League. She ended up winning that championship, and has won the indoor pentathlon and outdoor heptathlon at every Patriot League Championship since.
Now, after a successful record-breaking senior campaign and with the Patriot League Championships fast approaching this weekend, Utesch and Astor have high expectations that go well beyond this weekend's league championship meet.
"I really want to be an All-American," Astor said.
To become an All-American, an athlete has to qualify for the NCAA National Championships by being one of the top 25 competitors in their respective event. Right now, her heptathlon score puts her at about 28th place. She said she believes if she can break 5,4000 points at either the Patriot League Championships or the ECAC Championships, she will have a great chance to accomplish her goal and become the first ever All-American female track athlete at Lehigh.
Utesch is confident that she will succeed.
"I will be so happy for her when she's our first All-American," Utesch said. "I can't express how excited I am to have been a part of her career."
"It's not a coincidence that her name spells 'a star,'" he said.
"She's set apart from other kids because of her attitude towards the team and toward people," Utesch said. "She's working for everybody not just herself."
Utesch stressed Astor's leadership role on the team, a role that Astor said took her some time to tackle.
"I like leading by example," Astor said. "When I was a junior I learned a lot from Kristin Slotnick who was a really vocal captain and that helped me become a more vocal leader when I was captain as a senior.
Now that she is in the leadership role, the reigning Patriot League Champion wants to focus on setting an example for the younger members of the squad.
"As a senior I want to be involved and have the ability to influence [the underclassmen] while I'm still here and leave the team better off."
Utesch said Astor is a servant leader, meaning she does everything she can to serve the team.
"I think she always wanted to be a leader," said Utesch. "She comes from a family that's great and she's had a great example from her parents. She also thinks about each situation that she's in and says, 'what would a good leader do?' and 'what needs to be done and how can I do it?'"
Astor's path to greatness started back in her freshman year at Spotswood High School when she began running cross country to stay in shape for basketball season.
"Basketball was my main sport back then, and in the spring I had to make the choice between softball and track," Astor said.
She clearly made the right choice.
While she was athletic, Astor didn't just start out as one of the most talented multi athletes in the nation. She began her career as a sprinter, running the 200, 400 and the 400-meter hurdles. Her coach, Rowland D'Orvilliers, gradually guided her into more of the field events thinking that Astor had potential to be a competitive multi in college.
"He had a big influence on me," Astor said of her high school coach, "He helped me with the recruiting process for college."
By the end of her senior year, Astor was a 12-letter Varsity athlete and was being recruited by college track and field programs. She made the choice to leave basketball behind and pursue track in college. She ultimately ended up choosing Lehigh not because of its track program, but because of its architecture program.
"It was one of the only places I could do both track and architecture and that was extremely important to me," Astor said. "At other schools, coaches won't even let you major in architecture and run track because it's so time consuming."
As a freshman, Astor said she wasn't trying to be competitive. She focused on improving her times and improving in her least developed multi events, which she proclaims is the shot put.
"She was a lot like everybody else as a freshman," said Utesch. "She was making that adjustment to being in college and being in a college program. But she always wanted to go the extra mile she always wanted to do a little extra work."
She finished her freshman season with a third place finishes at the heptathlon at the outdoor Patriot League Championship.
Astor attributed her improvement between her freshmen and sophomore year greatly to the technical focus coach Utesch stresses in his training program.
"We spent a lot of time freshman year on technique," the senior said. "We focused a lot on my hurdle form and my high jump consistently got better."
Everything came together for Astor as a sophomore during the 2012 Patriot League Championships.
"I was doing the long jump and I stopped focusing on how to jump and more so on just doing it," Astor said. "I felt a lot more confident. It was like turning a new page."
At that moment, she said she felt like she could be a top competitor in the Patriot League. She ended up winning that championship, and has won the indoor pentathlon and outdoor heptathlon at every Patriot League Championship since.
Now, after a successful record-breaking senior campaign and with the Patriot League Championships fast approaching this weekend, Utesch and Astor have high expectations that go well beyond this weekend's league championship meet.
"I really want to be an All-American," Astor said.
To become an All-American, an athlete has to qualify for the NCAA National Championships by being one of the top 25 competitors in their respective event. Right now, her heptathlon score puts her at about 28th place. She said she believes if she can break 5,4000 points at either the Patriot League Championships or the ECAC Championships, she will have a great chance to accomplish her goal and become the first ever All-American female track athlete at Lehigh.
Utesch is confident that she will succeed.
"I will be so happy for her when she's our first All-American," Utesch said. "I can't express how excited I am to have been a part of her career."
"It's not a coincidence that her name spells 'a star,'" he said.
Undergraduate Commencement
Sunday, May 17
Graduate Commencement and Doctoral Hooding
Saturday, May 16
2026 Convocation Awards Ceremony
Thursday, May 07
2025-2026 Top Moments
Thursday, May 07
