Men's and Women's Cross Country to Host Lehigh-Lafayette Dual Meet
9/11/2014 12:27:00 PM | Cross Country
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh men's and women's cross country teams will host the annual Lehigh-Lafayette dual meet this Saturday on the Goodman Campus Cross Country Course. The women's race will begin at 10 a.m. and then men's race will follow at 10:45 a.m.
The men will look to gain their 16th straight win over Lafayette when they host the annual dual meet this Saturday.
"It's pretty cool to go down to the Hall Of Fame and look at all of the records between Lehigh-Lafayette meets," said head coach Todd Etters. "It helps the guys realize that this meet is bigger than us vs. them, it really represents cross country and our sport at its best."
At last year's 8K dual meet, Lehigh runners made up every finish in the top 11, including senior Ryan Mahalsky who finished in second place. Junior Sean Burke and seniors Nick Ward and Casey Gilboy also finished in the top five.
The Mountain Hawks are coming their fifth straight Lehigh Invitational title in which Lehigh placed eight runners in the top ten and 15 in the top 20. Senior Nick Ward took second place in the 6K with a personal best time of 18:27.39, while freshman Patrick Reilly's impressive fourth-place finish earned Patriot League Rookie of the Week recognition.
The Leopards recently ran at the Monmouth XC Kick-Off on August 30th where the men finished in second of five teams.
"Lafayette will be a good challenge for us," said Etters. "The coaches are getting the team a lot stronger and they're going to be prepared to race against us. The big challenge for us will be running together as a pack, we're hoping to finish a large group of runners within about 30 seconds of each other. If we can do that, I think we're going to come out on top."
The women look to gain their tenth straight win over Lafayette.
"Our runners are aware that alumni will be watching," said head coach Debbie Utesch. "We're also aware of our win-loss record with Lafayette. To have a head to head dual meet at the college level with our cross town rivals is such a unique thing in this day in age which makes us proud to be apart of this rivalry."
At last year's 6K dual meet, the Mountain Hawks finished seven runners in the top ten including senior Ingrid Simon who took the individual title with a personal best time of 22:42.60.
Lehigh will look to build on the season-opening performance at the Lehigh Invitational in which junior Elizabeth Weiler captured her first collegiate cross country win with a time of 21:35.58. Weiler also was honored as the Patriot League Female Runner of the Week after her impressive performance. The Mountain Hawks placed eight runners in the top 20 and finished second out of eight teams.
The Leopards recently ran at the Monmouth XC Kick-Off on August 30th where the women finished in third of five teams.
"Despite how Lafayette looks on paper, we never go into this meet overlooking them," said Utesch. "Lafayette always has good front runners so our top kids will have to be ready for the challenge. Their team as a whole is always up for this event, so we need to always be ready to match up with them to continue our streak of wins."
Following the Lehigh-Lafayette dual meet, the men will compete again on September 25 at the Main Line Invitational held in Haverford Pa. and the women will compete on September 27 at the Roy Griak Invitational held in Minneapolis, Minn.
The men will look to gain their 16th straight win over Lafayette when they host the annual dual meet this Saturday.
"It's pretty cool to go down to the Hall Of Fame and look at all of the records between Lehigh-Lafayette meets," said head coach Todd Etters. "It helps the guys realize that this meet is bigger than us vs. them, it really represents cross country and our sport at its best."
At last year's 8K dual meet, Lehigh runners made up every finish in the top 11, including senior Ryan Mahalsky who finished in second place. Junior Sean Burke and seniors Nick Ward and Casey Gilboy also finished in the top five.
The Mountain Hawks are coming their fifth straight Lehigh Invitational title in which Lehigh placed eight runners in the top ten and 15 in the top 20. Senior Nick Ward took second place in the 6K with a personal best time of 18:27.39, while freshman Patrick Reilly's impressive fourth-place finish earned Patriot League Rookie of the Week recognition.
The Leopards recently ran at the Monmouth XC Kick-Off on August 30th where the men finished in second of five teams.
"Lafayette will be a good challenge for us," said Etters. "The coaches are getting the team a lot stronger and they're going to be prepared to race against us. The big challenge for us will be running together as a pack, we're hoping to finish a large group of runners within about 30 seconds of each other. If we can do that, I think we're going to come out on top."
The women look to gain their tenth straight win over Lafayette.
"Our runners are aware that alumni will be watching," said head coach Debbie Utesch. "We're also aware of our win-loss record with Lafayette. To have a head to head dual meet at the college level with our cross town rivals is such a unique thing in this day in age which makes us proud to be apart of this rivalry."
At last year's 6K dual meet, the Mountain Hawks finished seven runners in the top ten including senior Ingrid Simon who took the individual title with a personal best time of 22:42.60.
Lehigh will look to build on the season-opening performance at the Lehigh Invitational in which junior Elizabeth Weiler captured her first collegiate cross country win with a time of 21:35.58. Weiler also was honored as the Patriot League Female Runner of the Week after her impressive performance. The Mountain Hawks placed eight runners in the top 20 and finished second out of eight teams.
The Leopards recently ran at the Monmouth XC Kick-Off on August 30th where the women finished in third of five teams.
"Despite how Lafayette looks on paper, we never go into this meet overlooking them," said Utesch. "Lafayette always has good front runners so our top kids will have to be ready for the challenge. Their team as a whole is always up for this event, so we need to always be ready to match up with them to continue our streak of wins."
Following the Lehigh-Lafayette dual meet, the men will compete again on September 25 at the Main Line Invitational held in Haverford Pa. and the women will compete on September 27 at the Roy Griak Invitational held in Minneapolis, Minn.
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