Lehigh University Athletics
Women’s Cross Country Opens Up Preseason Camp
8/20/2015 2:07:00 PM | Women's Cross Country
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - With the 2015 season just around the corner, the Lehigh women's cross country team returned to campus this past weekend to begin preseason practice.
The team returns three seniors and one graduate student from last season, including senior All-American, Elizabeth Weiler and graduate student Shannon Wright.
"It's been fun so far," said Wright. "I think it's always good to get the team back together after the summer and having people to run with and work out with to feel like you're actually in this together again. It's exciting."
"It's always great to have the whole team back together," said 19th year head coach Debbie Utesch. "They spend a lot of time over the summer training with their old high school teammates or by themselves, so for them it's a lot of fun to be back in with the group training."
The Mountain Hawks welcome three newcomers to the squad this year in Stephanie Hayes, Stacie Nadel and Ashleigh Thurston. After earning some valuable experience last season, five sophomores and four juniors will also return to contend.
"I think the freshmen that we have in the mix are going to have the ability to come in and make an immediate impact. So it'll be neat to see them come in and see how they adjust to racing at the Division I collegiate level," said Utesch.
"We have a very young sophomore class that is very talented and some returning juniors that have had time in our top seven," she added. "I think we'll have a lot of people jockeying for position in our top seven behind some of our top returners."
After finishing second at the Patriot League Championships in 2013, the squad certainly has the motivation and an eye towards contending for a league title.
"Absolutely," said Weiler, a reigning first team all-conference selection. "The rest of the league is still really improving overall and we want to go right with them. We have all kinds of the right motivation to get us to that point.
"We have an older team but I think that will be an advantage for us for the season," she added. "We have some high goals and are really looking to have a resurgence this year."
The Mountain Hawks will open up the 2015 campaign with the Lehigh Invitational on Friday, Sept. 4 on the Goodman Campus Cross Country Course. Lehigh will also host the annual Paul Short Run on Friday, Oct. 2.
Players Mentioned
