Friday, September 1
Bethlehem, Pa.
6:15 p.m.
Lehigh University
vs
Lehigh Invitational
Photo by: Don Paul
Mountain Hawks Place Third in Season-Opening Lehigh Invitational
9/1/2017 10:48:00 PM | Women's Cross Country
Results: TFRRS | PDF (with no divisions)
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Junior Stacie Nadel and freshman Hannah Knudsen both finished in the top 10 overall on Friday evening to help lead the Lehigh women's cross country team to a third place finish at the season-opening Lehigh Invitational. Lehigh was one of 10 teams to compete in the meet that included seven Division I schools. West Virginia took the top four individual spots to win the meet with 23 points, followed by Rutgers with 65 points. Lehigh scored 73 points to finish third, followed by Delaware (104) and West Chester (114) (all scores are with divisions merged).
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"We really put out a mixed squad into this race today," said head coach Debbie Utesch. "We had some people doing workouts, some scheduled to cover only about two miles, and then about 10 people scheduled to finish the whole course. It was a chance to really give some new people an opportunity to step up and run in a different place on the team than they've been in the past, see how they adapt to that, and a chance to look at some of our freshman just to see how they were going to make the adjustment to 6,000 meters."
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Nadel set a new personal record with her time of 22:04.01 for a fifth place finish, the highest placement of her collegiate career. Knudsen started her collegiate career with an eighth place finish in 22:12.5, averaging just under six minutes per mile. Sophomore Diana Hammerstone crossed the finish line in 22:32.4 for a 12th place tally, followed by sophomore Jenn Mickens in 21st overall (23:08.4). Freshman Elyse Barkstrom finished fifth on the team in 27th place overall (23:16.3), while senior Jennifer Burke (48th/23:58.5) and freshman Erin Tressler (50th/24:07.1) rounded out the team's top seven scorers.
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"We had two freshman that really had very good debuts: Hannah Knudsen and Elyse Barkstrom," Utesch said. "Running their first 6K, they both showed a lot of strength coming out of the 5K (high school distance) to run the new one thousand meter-addition that they've never been on before and they really finished very strong, so I think they have a lot more to give."
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"We put down a very solid performance today," Nadel said. "Our freshman Hannah Knudsen had an incredible race. Having her right behind me the whole time really pushed me through. We had a lot of girls who are still getting their feet wet. Talking to everyone afterwards, all around everyone seemed to feel good, it was a solid first race and I think we're just excited to go and get more."
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"It was great to see Stacie be able to run that front pack and kind've take them through the mile mark and then just keep going," Utesch said. "She had made a jump in track when she covered the 3,000 meter steeplechase and scored at the Patriot League Championships, so now it's clear that she has taken that 3,000 meter steeplechase and carried it over to the 6,000 meter cross country course. She's going to be a major player for us this fall."
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Lehigh will compete next Friday, Sept. 8 when they host rival Lafayette on the Goodman Campus Course.
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Follow Lehigh Cross Country/Track and Field on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Junior Stacie Nadel and freshman Hannah Knudsen both finished in the top 10 overall on Friday evening to help lead the Lehigh women's cross country team to a third place finish at the season-opening Lehigh Invitational. Lehigh was one of 10 teams to compete in the meet that included seven Division I schools. West Virginia took the top four individual spots to win the meet with 23 points, followed by Rutgers with 65 points. Lehigh scored 73 points to finish third, followed by Delaware (104) and West Chester (114) (all scores are with divisions merged).
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"We really put out a mixed squad into this race today," said head coach Debbie Utesch. "We had some people doing workouts, some scheduled to cover only about two miles, and then about 10 people scheduled to finish the whole course. It was a chance to really give some new people an opportunity to step up and run in a different place on the team than they've been in the past, see how they adapt to that, and a chance to look at some of our freshman just to see how they were going to make the adjustment to 6,000 meters."
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Nadel set a new personal record with her time of 22:04.01 for a fifth place finish, the highest placement of her collegiate career. Knudsen started her collegiate career with an eighth place finish in 22:12.5, averaging just under six minutes per mile. Sophomore Diana Hammerstone crossed the finish line in 22:32.4 for a 12th place tally, followed by sophomore Jenn Mickens in 21st overall (23:08.4). Freshman Elyse Barkstrom finished fifth on the team in 27th place overall (23:16.3), while senior Jennifer Burke (48th/23:58.5) and freshman Erin Tressler (50th/24:07.1) rounded out the team's top seven scorers.
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"We had two freshman that really had very good debuts: Hannah Knudsen and Elyse Barkstrom," Utesch said. "Running their first 6K, they both showed a lot of strength coming out of the 5K (high school distance) to run the new one thousand meter-addition that they've never been on before and they really finished very strong, so I think they have a lot more to give."
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"We put down a very solid performance today," Nadel said. "Our freshman Hannah Knudsen had an incredible race. Having her right behind me the whole time really pushed me through. We had a lot of girls who are still getting their feet wet. Talking to everyone afterwards, all around everyone seemed to feel good, it was a solid first race and I think we're just excited to go and get more."
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"It was great to see Stacie be able to run that front pack and kind've take them through the mile mark and then just keep going," Utesch said. "She had made a jump in track when she covered the 3,000 meter steeplechase and scored at the Patriot League Championships, so now it's clear that she has taken that 3,000 meter steeplechase and carried it over to the 6,000 meter cross country course. She's going to be a major player for us this fall."
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Lehigh will compete next Friday, Sept. 8 when they host rival Lafayette on the Goodman Campus Course.
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Follow Lehigh Cross Country/Track and Field on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
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Players Mentioned
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
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