Mahalsky and Knowles earn major awards, Mountain Hawks finish fifth at PLC

Friday, May 1

West Point, N.Y.

TBA

Lehigh University

Patriot League Championships

Ryan Mahalsky and Trevor Knowles Major Awards

Mahalsky and Knowles earn major awards, Mountain Hawks finish fifth at PLC

5/2/2015 6:43:00 PM | Men's Track and Field

Results

WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Lehigh men's track and field team finished fifth at the outdoor Patriot League Championship meet Saturday at Army West Point's Shea Stadium. Senior Ryan Mahalsky was named the Track Athlete of the Meet after winning both the 5,000 and 10,000 meter races, while freshman Trevor Knowles was named the Rookie of the Meet. The Mountain Hawks wrapped up the two-day event with four first-place finishes (10,000 meters, 5,000 meters, decathlon, long jump) and one second-place finish (4x400 meter relay).

"I'm very happy with the effort today and we came out after it really hard," said head coach Matt Utesch. "Ryan and Trevor winning major awards is great for the program. They're two guys that do everything right on the track and in the classroom, and they're really setting up a model for the whole team. I couldn't be prouder of Ryan as a senior and he definitely deserves this success."

Lehigh finished with 92 team points. Navy earned the team championship with 251.50 points, while Army (152), Bucknell (137), Boston University (135.50) and Lehigh rounded out the top five.

Mahalsky earned his second event title of the weekend when he grabbed the top spot on the 5,000 meter run podium with an IC4A-qualifying time of 14:27.81. Mahalsky's performance came after picking up the 10,000 meter run title Friday and the Mountain Hawk earned Track Athlete of the Meet recognition for his efforts. Freshman Patrick Reilly earned seventh in the 5,000 meter run with a time of 14:27.81 as he and Mahalsky combined for 12 team points.

Knowles earned the decathlon title with a total of 6,456 points to complete the season-long sweep of the multi events and pick up ten team points. He was also named Rookie of the Meet after earning the same honor during the indoor season. He finished first in three of the five events (110 meter hurdles, pole vault, 1500 meter run) in the final day of the decathlon to earn the title and finish over 200 points higher than the second-place finisher.

Lehigh's 4x400 meter relay team of sophomore Christopher Del Rossi and seniors Justin Mahoney, Sebastian Nicewicz and Christopher Watson finished second with an IC4A-qualifying time of 3:14.02 that was good for eight team points.

Mahoney finished fourth in the 400 meter dash to secure five team points after racing to the finish line in an IC4A-qualifying time of 48.09 seconds. He then finished seventh in the 200 meter dash finals with a clip of 22.17 seconds to secure two more team points.

Freshman John Tolbert finished sixth in the 3,000 meter steeplechase with a time of 9:25.98, while junior Casey Gilboy followed right behind in seventh with a clip of 9:26.50 as the two Mountain Hawks grabbed five team points. Watson grabbed a team point after finishing eighth in the 800 meter run with a time of 1:54.72. Classmate Robert Hugin (55.75) earned sixth place in the 400 meter hurdles, while sophomore Tom Troxell (56.33) picked up eighth and the two Mountain Hawks secured four team points.

Sophomore Daniel Reichenbach finished third in the triple jump with an IC4A-qualifying leap of 14.86 meters, while junior Cody Israel (13.86 meters) finished eighth and the two Mountain Hawks secured seven team points. Sophomore Daniel Boardman picked up three team points after tying for fourth in the high jump with a leap of 1.94 meters. Senior Benjamin Beauchamp earned fifth place in the discus throw with an IC4A-qualifying toss of 49.30 meters to secure four team points.

Next up, those Mountain Hawks that have qualified will compete in the ECAC/IC4A Championships at Princeton May 15-17.

2015 Men's Track and Field Outdoor PLC Team Results