Lehigh Earns Three Wins at IC4A/ECAC Championships

Friday, May 12

Princeton, N.J.

ALL DAY

Lehigh University

ECAC/IC4A Championships

Photo by: Don Paul

Lehigh Earns Three Wins at IC4A/ECAC Championships

5/14/2017 7:49:00 PM | Men's Track and Field, Track and Field, Women's Track and Field

Complete Results: TFRRS | PDF

PRINCETON, N.J. – The Lehigh track and field program picked up three individual wins and had four All-East performers this weekend at the IC4A/ECAC Championships at Princeton University. Senior Courtney Avery and freshman Hannah Patrick both notched victories on Sunday, and senior Katie Hatler also earned All-East honors. On the men's side, senior Lucas Warning also earned All-East honors for his victory in the shot put.

"Very proud of all of them," said 20th year head coach Matt Utesch. "This is the first in my career we've had three IC4A/ECAC champions, so we're very pleased with that."

Entering the championships as the 13th ranked qualifier in the javelin, Patrick used a personal record throw of 44.89 meters to power her way to victory, besting the field of 15 throwers to earn All-East honors. The mark also ranks Patrick 43rd in the NCAA East Region, putting her position for a qualifying spot in the First Round of the NCAA Championships.

"I don't think we've ever had a freshman that was able to win an IC4A/ECAC event, so that bodes well for her future," Utesch said. "She may have surprised herself by how well she threw, and we're really excited for her to have a first round birth."

Avery won the high jump by clearing at 1.77 meters, marking the second win of her career at the ECAC outdoor meet, and her sixth All-East honor overall (fourth outdoor).

"She rebounded from two early misses at 1.73, before clearing with a huge jump on her third try," Utesch said. "She then cleared the next two bars on her first attempt, before jumping all the way up to 1.84m where she has some really good attempts."

Hatler earned the first All-East honor of her career after finishing seventh overall, second in her heat, in the 100m hurdles in 14.30 seconds.

"Katie did a great job with the whole situation of not running in a prelim heat, and just came out and did a nice job in the finals," Utesch said.

Elsewhere for the Mountain Hawks, sophomore Maura Henderson rounded out the top 10 in the 1500m run (4:29.86), followed by Brenna Clark in 13th place (4:32.32). In the steeplechase, freshman Ashleigh Crawford finished in 12th place (10:56.16). Junior Amanda Youngblood placed 19th in the discus (40.57m), and Melody Walthers finished 11th in the javelin (37.97m).

Over on the men's side, Warning captured the shot put crown at a distance of 18.11 meters. Warning also competed in the discus, where he finished 22nd overall with a throw of 44.98 meters. His shot put win earned him the first outdoor All-East honor of his career, and the second overall.

"Lucas continues to just win, which is always great to see," Utesch said. "We're really pleased with how he performed. It's always good stuff to consistently throw over 18 meters."

On the track for the men, Matt Kravitz placed 20th out of 46 runners in the 800 meter run (1:52.90). On Friday's opening day of competition, senior Evan Hardy led Lehigh in the 5K with an 11th place finish (14:31.50) and freshman Jeffrey Kirshenbaum set a new personal record of 14:42.00 in 19th place.

After a weekend off from competition next weekend, qualifying Lehigh athletes will participate in the First Round of the NCAA Championships in Lexington, Kentucky on May 25-27. It is there that the top 48 qualifiers in the East Region will attempt to qualify for the finals of the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, which will take place in Eugene, Oregon. Currently, Warning ranks 10th in the region in the shot put and 30th in the discus on the men's side. On the women's side, Avery ranks eighth in the high jump, Henderson is 18th in the women's steeplechase, and Patrick's throw on Sunday in the javelin puts her in 43rd. Walthers also finds herself in contention by ranking 51st in the javelin.

The final field of qualifiers for the First Round will be determined on Monday evening.

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