Mountain Hawks complete Army 5-Way

Friday, January 9

West Point, NY

All Day

Lehigh University

Army 5-Way Invitational

1/10/2015 9:26:00 PM | Women's Track and Field

Results

WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Lehigh women's track and field team wrapped up competition at the Army 5-Way Saturday in the Mountain Hawks' first competition in over a month. The meet was highlighted by a pair of first-place finishes and an ECAC-qualifying high jump from sophomore Courtney Avery.

"Coming back from the break is always scary because we never know what people were able to do on their own," said head coach Matt Utesch. "To see some of the performances we saw today is very encouraging and tells me our team has done some good work over the break."

Avery claimed the high jump title with an ECAC qualifying leap of 1.71 meters. Junior Gabrielle Wardle followed close behind in third place with a mark of 1.62 meters.

Lehigh's 4x800 meter relay team of freshman Rachel Okun, senior Victoria Mullane, senior Natalie Bates and freshman Laura Barnes took home first place after racing to the finish line in a time of 9:46.15.

"Rachel Okun works really hard and has a gigantic heart that is full of desire," said Utesch. "I've been super impressed with her early performances."

The 4x400 meter relay team of freshman Hanna Brosky, sophomore Soraya Theard, freshman Amanda Fischer and sophomore Lindsay Voltz finished second with a mark of 4:06.08.

Also on the track, Okun impressed in the 500 meter dash, crossing the line in second place with a time of 1:20.34. Mullane finished third in the 800 meter run with a clip of 2:20.95. Senior Halie Carter took home fourth place in the 400 meter dash after racing to the finish line in 1:00.45. Carter also finished third in the 200 meter dash (26.80) and was followed closely by freshman Liyala Dickens in fourth place (26.92). Junior Arielle Weiner placed third in the 3,000 meter run with a time of 10:50.34. Sophomore Courtney Wu placed fifth in the 60 meter hurdles with a clip of 9.75 seconds.

In the field events, sophomore Kiana Wright took home second in the triple jump after a leap of 10.65 meters. Wright (5.05m) and junior Gabrielle Wardle (4.98m) placed fourth and fifth, respectively, in the long jump.

"Kianna has really changed her techniques up and done very well so far," said Utesch. "She's setting herself up to really make an impact at the Patriot League Championships."

The Mountain Hawks return home next weekend to host the Angry Birds Invitational inside the Rauch Fieldhouse.

"I really like the way our team is expecting to win," said Utesch. "I look forward to welcoming the Angry Birds teams and I think it'll be a good tune-up for us. It'll give us a good idea of where to place people for the Lehigh-Lafayette Dual Meet, which is the following weekend."