Saturday, September 10
University Park, Pa.
10 a.m.
Lehigh University
at
Spiked Shoe Invitational
Men’s Cross Country Has Solid Fourth Place Finish at Spiked Shoe Invitational
9/10/2016 4:54:00 PM | Men's Cross Country
Complete Results (PDF)
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Lehigh men's cross country team turned in a solid fourth place finish on hot and steamy Saturday morning at the Spiked Shoe Invitational at Penn State. The race featured some of the top teams in the Mid-Atlantic Region and the nation. Defending national champ Syracuse took home the top prize at the invite with 19 points, followed by Cornell in second and No. 7 Georgetown in third place. Lehigh's 125 points were good enough for fourth place, followed by the host Nittany Lions in fifth.
Ranked 11th in the preseason in the Mid-Atlantic Region, Lehigh finished ahead of No. 4 Penn State and No. 7 Saint Joseph's, and fared well against top seed Georgetown. The 5.2 mile race featured 136 finishers in the 11 team race.
Senior Alexander Fitzgerald (26:58.8) led the way for Lehigh with a 15th place finish, followed by junior Patrick Reilly (20th/27:11.5), in the season debut for both runners. Sophomore Brian Arita (27:27.1) finished in third place for his second top-three finish in as many weeks. Freshmen Matt Kravitz (27:32.0) and Jeffrey Kirshenbaum (27:56.1) finished back-to-back in fourth and fifth places, respectively, with juniors Christopher Mascetti (28:22.5) and David Mugavero (28:24.4) rounding out the Mountain Hawks' tops seven.
"We feel great about how today turned out," said head coach Todd Etters. "It feels good to measure yourself against some of the top teams in the region, and Syracuse who's the best team in the country. We don't want to read too much into it, but it's great to see where we're at and measure apples to apples against some of the top teams in our region. They may not have been at full strength, but neither are we."
The race marked the return of some of Lehigh's upperclassmen who did not compete in the Sept. 2 season opener. Etters feels the introduction of the upperclassmen into the lineup along with the young talent shows the team's potential moving forward.
"Fitz and Pat really raced well together," Etters said. "The whole team stayed patient and let the race unfold without panicking. Matt (Kravitz) and Jeffrey (Kirsehnbaum) were very good in high school so it's no surprise they can race at this level. Mugavero has put in multiple years of heartache and effort, so today was a nice payoff for him. With the weather as hot as it was, the whole team contributed on a day like this."
Lehigh will return to action next Saturday morning in Easton, Pa. with a showdown against rival Lafayette in the schools' annual dual meet.
"We have a lot of season left," Etters said. "We don't want to read too much into where we're at, but it's good to run with these teams and we know we'll be better. We'll analyze this and feel good but tomorrow we're going to focus on Lafayette and how we'll execute there. Then as soon as that's ones over we'll begin to focus on the next one."
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Lehigh men's cross country team turned in a solid fourth place finish on hot and steamy Saturday morning at the Spiked Shoe Invitational at Penn State. The race featured some of the top teams in the Mid-Atlantic Region and the nation. Defending national champ Syracuse took home the top prize at the invite with 19 points, followed by Cornell in second and No. 7 Georgetown in third place. Lehigh's 125 points were good enough for fourth place, followed by the host Nittany Lions in fifth.
Ranked 11th in the preseason in the Mid-Atlantic Region, Lehigh finished ahead of No. 4 Penn State and No. 7 Saint Joseph's, and fared well against top seed Georgetown. The 5.2 mile race featured 136 finishers in the 11 team race.
Senior Alexander Fitzgerald (26:58.8) led the way for Lehigh with a 15th place finish, followed by junior Patrick Reilly (20th/27:11.5), in the season debut for both runners. Sophomore Brian Arita (27:27.1) finished in third place for his second top-three finish in as many weeks. Freshmen Matt Kravitz (27:32.0) and Jeffrey Kirshenbaum (27:56.1) finished back-to-back in fourth and fifth places, respectively, with juniors Christopher Mascetti (28:22.5) and David Mugavero (28:24.4) rounding out the Mountain Hawks' tops seven.
"We feel great about how today turned out," said head coach Todd Etters. "It feels good to measure yourself against some of the top teams in the region, and Syracuse who's the best team in the country. We don't want to read too much into it, but it's great to see where we're at and measure apples to apples against some of the top teams in our region. They may not have been at full strength, but neither are we."
The race marked the return of some of Lehigh's upperclassmen who did not compete in the Sept. 2 season opener. Etters feels the introduction of the upperclassmen into the lineup along with the young talent shows the team's potential moving forward.
"Fitz and Pat really raced well together," Etters said. "The whole team stayed patient and let the race unfold without panicking. Matt (Kravitz) and Jeffrey (Kirsehnbaum) were very good in high school so it's no surprise they can race at this level. Mugavero has put in multiple years of heartache and effort, so today was a nice payoff for him. With the weather as hot as it was, the whole team contributed on a day like this."
Lehigh will return to action next Saturday morning in Easton, Pa. with a showdown against rival Lafayette in the schools' annual dual meet.
"We have a lot of season left," Etters said. "We don't want to read too much into where we're at, but it's good to run with these teams and we know we'll be better. We'll analyze this and feel good but tomorrow we're going to focus on Lafayette and how we'll execute there. Then as soon as that's ones over we'll begin to focus on the next one."
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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