Saturday, October 29
Easton, Pa.
12 p.m.
Lehigh University
vs
Patriot League Championships
Photo by: Don Paul
PREVIEW: Lehigh Prepped for the Patriot League Championships
10/28/2016 11:17:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
Patriot League Championship Central
Patriot League Record Book
Lehigh 2016 Stats/Results Sheet
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – With six meets now in the books, the Lehigh men's cross country team turns its attention to this Saturday's Patriot League Championships. This will be the third race of the season for the Mountain Hawks on Lafayette's Metzgar Fields course, a place where Lehigh has been victorious twice already this season.
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"Physically I think we're in a great spot, we're definitely fit," said head coach Todd Etters. "I think every team right now is just worried about the mental execution that goes with racing and the teams that do that best at the end of the season are the teams that go home with trophies."
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Lehigh will be in search of its first Patriot League trophy since 2012 when it won the championship at Colgate. Lehigh last competed two weeks ago, splitting its squad between the Leopard Invitational at Lafayette and the Pre-Nationals in Indiana. A veteran group of seniors Ryan Cooney and Alexander Fitzgerald led the way at Pre-Nationals, with sophomore Samuel Layding continuing his strong streak of races placing third on the team. Cooney (25:09.6) previously finished second on the team at the Paul Short Run, while Layding took third with a new collegiate personal best time of 25:14.7.
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Junior Patrick Reilly was Lehigh's top finisher at the league championships in 2015, and will look to build upon is 14th place, second-team all-league performance from last season. This year, Reilly finished second on the team in 20th/136 place overall at the Spiked Shoe Invitational and ran a season best 25:19.8 clip at Paul Short.
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Sophomore Brian Arita has scored in four of the team's five meets so far, including a 25:30.8 PR at Paul Short and a team-leading third place overall performance at the Leopard Invitational. He placed in the top 10 overall at the Lehigh Invitational and finished third on the team at the Spiked Shoe Invite.
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Joining the returners have been freshmen Matt Kravitz and Jeffrey Kirshenbaum, who have each raced at Pre-Nationals and set season-best times at Paul Short. Kirshenbaum earned Rookie of the Week honors for his performance at Paul Short, leading the Mountain Hawks' pack in 126th place overall (25:02.7).
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With the team split to compete at two different meets two weeks ago, Etters' group has seen some split results as well from his runners over the last couple meets, emphasizing the need to score better up front. Etters is hopeful that the team's depth and experience will allow them to put all the pieces together for a solid run on Saturday afternoon.
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"I think we're coming off a bit of a rough patch in our season," Etters said. "We've had split squads the last couple of meets and half the team has run great and half the team hasn't. We really need to ride the energy of the guys who have ran great. We need to make sure as a whole top to bottom we're executing and when we do that, I think we're one of the deeper teams in the league. I expect Navy to certainly be the team that goes out and sets the tone and we just have to make sure we're racing well enough to execute our own game plan and still be prepared for what else might unfold during the race."
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Saturday's men's 8K championship race is scheduled for 12 p.m. in Easton, Pa., following the 11 a.m. women's 6K run. Check LehighSports.com for a complete recap following the events, and be sure to follow @LUTF on Twitter for live updates of both the men's and women's races.
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Patriot League Record Book
Lehigh 2016 Stats/Results Sheet
Â
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – With six meets now in the books, the Lehigh men's cross country team turns its attention to this Saturday's Patriot League Championships. This will be the third race of the season for the Mountain Hawks on Lafayette's Metzgar Fields course, a place where Lehigh has been victorious twice already this season.
Â
"Physically I think we're in a great spot, we're definitely fit," said head coach Todd Etters. "I think every team right now is just worried about the mental execution that goes with racing and the teams that do that best at the end of the season are the teams that go home with trophies."
Â
Lehigh will be in search of its first Patriot League trophy since 2012 when it won the championship at Colgate. Lehigh last competed two weeks ago, splitting its squad between the Leopard Invitational at Lafayette and the Pre-Nationals in Indiana. A veteran group of seniors Ryan Cooney and Alexander Fitzgerald led the way at Pre-Nationals, with sophomore Samuel Layding continuing his strong streak of races placing third on the team. Cooney (25:09.6) previously finished second on the team at the Paul Short Run, while Layding took third with a new collegiate personal best time of 25:14.7.
Â
Junior Patrick Reilly was Lehigh's top finisher at the league championships in 2015, and will look to build upon is 14th place, second-team all-league performance from last season. This year, Reilly finished second on the team in 20th/136 place overall at the Spiked Shoe Invitational and ran a season best 25:19.8 clip at Paul Short.
Â
Sophomore Brian Arita has scored in four of the team's five meets so far, including a 25:30.8 PR at Paul Short and a team-leading third place overall performance at the Leopard Invitational. He placed in the top 10 overall at the Lehigh Invitational and finished third on the team at the Spiked Shoe Invite.
Â
Joining the returners have been freshmen Matt Kravitz and Jeffrey Kirshenbaum, who have each raced at Pre-Nationals and set season-best times at Paul Short. Kirshenbaum earned Rookie of the Week honors for his performance at Paul Short, leading the Mountain Hawks' pack in 126th place overall (25:02.7).
Â
With the team split to compete at two different meets two weeks ago, Etters' group has seen some split results as well from his runners over the last couple meets, emphasizing the need to score better up front. Etters is hopeful that the team's depth and experience will allow them to put all the pieces together for a solid run on Saturday afternoon.
Â
"I think we're coming off a bit of a rough patch in our season," Etters said. "We've had split squads the last couple of meets and half the team has run great and half the team hasn't. We really need to ride the energy of the guys who have ran great. We need to make sure as a whole top to bottom we're executing and when we do that, I think we're one of the deeper teams in the league. I expect Navy to certainly be the team that goes out and sets the tone and we just have to make sure we're racing well enough to execute our own game plan and still be prepared for what else might unfold during the race."
Â
Saturday's men's 8K championship race is scheduled for 12 p.m. in Easton, Pa., following the 11 a.m. women's 6K run. Check LehighSports.com for a complete recap following the events, and be sure to follow @LUTF on Twitter for live updates of both the men's and women's races.
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Players Mentioned
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
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