Lehigh University Athletics
Photo by: Don Paul
Wardle Wins Two Titles on Day One at Patriot League Championships
5/6/2016 6:50:00 PM | Women's Track and Field
Women's Day 1 Results (HTML)
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Senior Gabrielle Wardle captured the first two Patriot League Championships of her career on Friday to highlight the first day of competition at the Patriot League Championships. Wardle won the javelin throw, turning in the furthest toss in the league this season of 45.70 meters, which is also a new personal record and an ECAC qualifier. Wardle later capped off her day with another league championship in the long jump, where she flew 5.91 meters, surpassing her previous PR by 21 centimeters. The day was also highlighted by a runner-up finish on the track from senior Elizabeth Weiler in the 10K. As a team, Lehigh sits in second place overall with 49.50 points, trailing first place Bucknell (85.50 points) and holding a 19-point advantage over third place-Navy.
"I know it seems like a long time coming, but she's had great athletes ahead of her, and she's come into her own and is throwing like a superstar," head coach Matt Utesch said of Wardle. "It's not surprising, but exactly what we hoped for and we're super excited about it."
In addition to the javelin, Wardle also hold a narrow 29-point lead for first place through the first four events in the heptathlon with 2,984 points. Wardle won the heptathlon's high jump (1.69m), took second place in the 100m hurdles (15.05), second in the 200m dash (26.57) and third in the shot put (10.45m). Lehigh dominated the heptathlon's high jump event, where all four of the Brown and White's participants swept the top four places; Wardle followed by Olivia Reinold (1.63m), Tyler Bannister (1.63m) and Sarah Cassidy (1.60m).
Junior Melody Walthers also set a new PR in the javelin and surpassed the ECAC qualifying mark of 41.97 meters to take home fifth place. Cassidy finished close behind in sixth place (40.34m), topping the 40-meter plateau for the first time in her career. Senior Adriana Vukmanic (39.03m) also set a personal-best in eighth place, and junior Meghan Reilly rounded out the top 10 with her throw of 36.22m.
Junior Courtney Wu joined Wardle in the long jump, where she set a new PR in 11th place overall (5.24m).
Freshman Kaitlyn Toman took fourth place in the pole vault, clearing the bar at 3.55m to set a new outdoor season-high.
Sophomore Paige Grossman led the way for Lehigh in the hammer throw with her personal record sixth place tally (46.39m). Sophomore Michaela Bubak took ninth place and Amanda Youngblood rounded out the top 10 with a new PR mark of 43.80m.
On the track, Weiler raced to a runner-up finish in the 10K, picking up eight team points in 36:10.75, meeting ECAC qualifying standards. Senior Arielle Weiner also picked up team points in eighth place with a season-best mark of 37:50.61.
Junior Katie Hatler qualified for Saturday's finals in the 100m hurdles, taking first place in her heat and third place overall in the prelims in 14.44 seconds. Junior Natalie Jacobs finished the prelims 11th overall, while setting a new PR of 14.91.
Sophomore Liyala Dickens and junior Leah Ferguson both qualified for the semifinal heat of the 100m dash after finishing 11th and 12th, respectively, in the preliminary round. In the semis, Dickens narrowly missed qualifying for the finals by coming in ninth and setting a new PR of 12.43. Later in the day, Dickens also led Lehigh in 10th place overall of the 200m prelims.
Lehigh's 4x800 relay team raced to a fourth place tally as freshman Maura Henderson, sophomore Hanna Brosky, junior Marissa Karl and sophomore Hannah Leskow combined on an ECAC-qualifying finish of 9:08.72 to score five team points.
Friday's results have Utesch and the rest of the coaching staff feeling very confident going into Saturday's final day of competition.
"Elly (Wardle) finishes the hep and the high jump will be a really strong event," Utesch said. "We have Hatler going in the hurdles. Three very fast girls in the 1,500. There are points out there and we need to capitalize. There's always people that you don't always see that can step up as well. If momentum carries through, we will be very happy at the end of the day tomorrow."
The Patriot League Championships will wrap up on Saturday at Bucknell with all of the day's events scheduled to get underway at 11:15 a.m. Complete meet information including a schedule of events and live stats are available here. Check back to Lehighsports.com following the meet's conclusion for a full recap.
Women's Track and Field Standings After Day 1 of PLC
Team                                    Points
1. Navy                                83
2. Army                               38
3. Bucknell                         37.50
4. Lehigh                             24
5. Boston University      17
6. American                       15
7. Lafayette                       10
8. Holy Cross                     5.50
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Senior Gabrielle Wardle captured the first two Patriot League Championships of her career on Friday to highlight the first day of competition at the Patriot League Championships. Wardle won the javelin throw, turning in the furthest toss in the league this season of 45.70 meters, which is also a new personal record and an ECAC qualifier. Wardle later capped off her day with another league championship in the long jump, where she flew 5.91 meters, surpassing her previous PR by 21 centimeters. The day was also highlighted by a runner-up finish on the track from senior Elizabeth Weiler in the 10K. As a team, Lehigh sits in second place overall with 49.50 points, trailing first place Bucknell (85.50 points) and holding a 19-point advantage over third place-Navy.
"I know it seems like a long time coming, but she's had great athletes ahead of her, and she's come into her own and is throwing like a superstar," head coach Matt Utesch said of Wardle. "It's not surprising, but exactly what we hoped for and we're super excited about it."
In addition to the javelin, Wardle also hold a narrow 29-point lead for first place through the first four events in the heptathlon with 2,984 points. Wardle won the heptathlon's high jump (1.69m), took second place in the 100m hurdles (15.05), second in the 200m dash (26.57) and third in the shot put (10.45m). Lehigh dominated the heptathlon's high jump event, where all four of the Brown and White's participants swept the top four places; Wardle followed by Olivia Reinold (1.63m), Tyler Bannister (1.63m) and Sarah Cassidy (1.60m).
Junior Melody Walthers also set a new PR in the javelin and surpassed the ECAC qualifying mark of 41.97 meters to take home fifth place. Cassidy finished close behind in sixth place (40.34m), topping the 40-meter plateau for the first time in her career. Senior Adriana Vukmanic (39.03m) also set a personal-best in eighth place, and junior Meghan Reilly rounded out the top 10 with her throw of 36.22m.
Junior Courtney Wu joined Wardle in the long jump, where she set a new PR in 11th place overall (5.24m).
Freshman Kaitlyn Toman took fourth place in the pole vault, clearing the bar at 3.55m to set a new outdoor season-high.
Sophomore Paige Grossman led the way for Lehigh in the hammer throw with her personal record sixth place tally (46.39m). Sophomore Michaela Bubak took ninth place and Amanda Youngblood rounded out the top 10 with a new PR mark of 43.80m.
On the track, Weiler raced to a runner-up finish in the 10K, picking up eight team points in 36:10.75, meeting ECAC qualifying standards. Senior Arielle Weiner also picked up team points in eighth place with a season-best mark of 37:50.61.
Junior Katie Hatler qualified for Saturday's finals in the 100m hurdles, taking first place in her heat and third place overall in the prelims in 14.44 seconds. Junior Natalie Jacobs finished the prelims 11th overall, while setting a new PR of 14.91.
Sophomore Liyala Dickens and junior Leah Ferguson both qualified for the semifinal heat of the 100m dash after finishing 11th and 12th, respectively, in the preliminary round. In the semis, Dickens narrowly missed qualifying for the finals by coming in ninth and setting a new PR of 12.43. Later in the day, Dickens also led Lehigh in 10th place overall of the 200m prelims.
Lehigh's 4x800 relay team raced to a fourth place tally as freshman Maura Henderson, sophomore Hanna Brosky, junior Marissa Karl and sophomore Hannah Leskow combined on an ECAC-qualifying finish of 9:08.72 to score five team points.
Friday's results have Utesch and the rest of the coaching staff feeling very confident going into Saturday's final day of competition.
"Elly (Wardle) finishes the hep and the high jump will be a really strong event," Utesch said. "We have Hatler going in the hurdles. Three very fast girls in the 1,500. There are points out there and we need to capitalize. There's always people that you don't always see that can step up as well. If momentum carries through, we will be very happy at the end of the day tomorrow."
The Patriot League Championships will wrap up on Saturday at Bucknell with all of the day's events scheduled to get underway at 11:15 a.m. Complete meet information including a schedule of events and live stats are available here. Check back to Lehighsports.com following the meet's conclusion for a full recap.
Women's Track and Field Standings After Day 1 of PLC
Team                                    Points
1. Navy                                83
2. Army                               38
3. Bucknell                         37.50
4. Lehigh                             24
5. Boston University      17
6. American                       15
7. Lafayette                       10
8. Holy Cross                     5.50
Players Mentioned
Jumps/Combined
/ Women's Track and Field
Mid-Distance
/ Women's Track and Field
Throws
/ Women's Track and Field
Multis
/ Women's Track and Field
Sprints
/ Women's Track and Field
Sprints
/ Women's Track and Field
Throws
/ Women's Track and Field
Sprints/Hurldles
/ Women's Track and Field
Mid-Distance
/ Women's Track and Field
Sprints
/ Women's Track and Field
Distance
/ Women's Track and Field
Distance
/ Women's Track and Field
Throws
/ Women's Track and Field
Multis/Jumps
/ Women's Track and Field
Pole Vault/Jumps
/ Women's Track and Field
Javelin
/ Women's Track and Field
Throws
/ Women's Track and Field
Multi/Jumps
/ Women's Track and Field
Distance
/ Women's Track and Field
Distance
/ Women's Track and Field
Sprints
/ Women's Track and Field
Throws
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