Lehigh University Athletics
Photo by: Don Paul
Women’s Cross Country Holds Annual Banquet
12/7/2017 2:24:00 PM | Women's Cross Country
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh women's cross country program hosted its annual year-end awards banquet on Sunday, Dec. 3 at the Gander Room. Lehigh reflected on the 2017 season and handed out its postseason awards. The Mountain Hawks placed fourth at the Patriot League Championships this season and were 14th at the NCAA Regionals.
The life of a Division I student-athlete is not always smooth, filled with bumps and potholes along the way. To help illustrate the theme, the team's seniors from the cross country and track sprint-middle distance group joined head coach Debbie Utesch on a horse drawn carriage ride through Bethlehem.
Junior Maura Henderson was tabbed as the team's Athlete of the Year for the second straight season. She captured Second Team All-Patriot League honors with an eighth place finish at the league championships. She led the Lehigh pack in five of her six races this season and was the individual champion of the Lehigh-Lafayette dual meet to help Lehigh earn a perfect score. She placed 52nd overall at the Paul Short Run with the fourth fastest time (20:51.5) in program history at the Goodman Campus. She later ran the 10th fastest Goodman Campus time in program history (21:30) at regionals.
Senior Laura Barnes was named the team's scholar athlete. One of just two seniors on this year's squad, the chemical engineering major competed in four meets this past season and set a new personal record with her time of 21:52.1 at Paul Short. She was a part of the team's top seven at the highly competitive Coast-to-Coast Battle in Beantown.
The Coaches' Award was presented to junior Stacie Nadel who had a breakout campaign in 2017. Nadel was one of Lehigh's top two runners in five of her seven meets this season. She placed first on the team and fifth overall at the Lehigh Invitational and was also first on the team at the Penn State National Open. She added second place team finishes at the Coast-to-Coast Battle in Beantown, the Patriot League Championships and NCAA Regionals. Her 15th place overall finish at Patriots was just one spot shy of an all-league finish.
Follow Lehigh Cross Country/Track and Field on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
The life of a Division I student-athlete is not always smooth, filled with bumps and potholes along the way. To help illustrate the theme, the team's seniors from the cross country and track sprint-middle distance group joined head coach Debbie Utesch on a horse drawn carriage ride through Bethlehem.
Junior Maura Henderson was tabbed as the team's Athlete of the Year for the second straight season. She captured Second Team All-Patriot League honors with an eighth place finish at the league championships. She led the Lehigh pack in five of her six races this season and was the individual champion of the Lehigh-Lafayette dual meet to help Lehigh earn a perfect score. She placed 52nd overall at the Paul Short Run with the fourth fastest time (20:51.5) in program history at the Goodman Campus. She later ran the 10th fastest Goodman Campus time in program history (21:30) at regionals.
Senior Laura Barnes was named the team's scholar athlete. One of just two seniors on this year's squad, the chemical engineering major competed in four meets this past season and set a new personal record with her time of 21:52.1 at Paul Short. She was a part of the team's top seven at the highly competitive Coast-to-Coast Battle in Beantown.
The Coaches' Award was presented to junior Stacie Nadel who had a breakout campaign in 2017. Nadel was one of Lehigh's top two runners in five of her seven meets this season. She placed first on the team and fifth overall at the Lehigh Invitational and was also first on the team at the Penn State National Open. She added second place team finishes at the Coast-to-Coast Battle in Beantown, the Patriot League Championships and NCAA Regionals. Her 15th place overall finish at Patriots was just one spot shy of an all-league finish.
Follow Lehigh Cross Country/Track and Field on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
Players Mentioned
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
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