Friday, September 8
Bethlehem, Pa.
5:30 p.m.
Lehigh University
vs
Lafayette
Lehigh Captures Perfect Score to Power Past Lafayette
9/8/2017 10:11:00 PM | Women's Cross Country
Complete Results: TFRRS | PDFÂ Â Â Â Â Lehigh-Lafayette Rivalry History
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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh women's cross country team earned a perfect score on Friday afternoon to run past Lafayette 15-50 in the school's annual dual meet at Goodman Campus. It is the first-ever perfect score for the Mountain Hawk women against Lafayette in the history of the dual meet between the two rivals. Junior Maura Henderson and sophomore Hannah Bonaguidi led the way for Lehigh, who swept the top seven spots and took eight of the top 10 places overall. Lehigh has now won 13 straight duals over Lafayette on the women's side and holds a 19-8 mark against the Leopards since 1990.
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"It's fun to be a part of cross country because we're usually the first sport to go against them each year," said head coach Debbie Utesch. "We take a lot of pride in being able to start that off with a W."
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Henderson pulled away from the rest of the field to cruise to the finish in 21:35.05. Bonaguidi also pulled away from the pack to cross the line in 22:03.28. Sophomore Diana Hammerstone (22:14.69) finished third, just ahead of junior Stephanie Hayes (22:19.92) and sophomore Ashleigh Crawford (22:2.05). Junior Stacie Nadel finished sixth in 22:25.54 and freshman Hannah Knudsen rounded out Lehigh's top seven scorers with a time of 22:45.03.
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"We were trying to run in packs, so we packed to together and managed to sweep them," Bonaguidi said. "I don't know if we were expecting to sweep or not, but that was a really nice surprise."
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Next up for Lehigh was freshman Elyse Barkstrom (23:05.56) in 10th place overall, followed by Jenn Mickens (23:50.48) in 16th place, Ginger Pojednic (23:55.61) in 18th and Grace Eckstein (24:06.81) in 20th. As a team, the Mountain Hawks averaged 22:07 on the six-kilometer course.
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"The women did a tremendous job," Utesch said. "We had really specific controlled mile splits this week, and surprisingly we hit them very closely. It really let us work our packs through a certain point in the race before we decided to just go and run the second half. And it was really nice to see some of those packs continue to work together through the full 6,000 meters.
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"You always see kids, even if they don't truly understand the rivalry yet because they haven't been around that long, they really step up because they hear the stories from year to year," Utesch said. "There's just so many legacies and stories that go on and on, so it's awesome for them to be a part of that."
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After a week off, Lehigh will return to action at the Coast-to-Coast Battle in Beantown on September 22.
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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. – The Lehigh women's cross country team earned a perfect score on Friday afternoon to run past Lafayette 15-50 in the school's annual dual meet at Goodman Campus. It is the first-ever perfect score for the Mountain Hawk women against Lafayette in the history of the dual meet between the two rivals. Junior Maura Henderson and sophomore Hannah Bonaguidi led the way for Lehigh, who swept the top seven spots and took eight of the top 10 places overall. Lehigh has now won 13 straight duals over Lafayette on the women's side and holds a 19-8 mark against the Leopards since 1990.
Â
"It's fun to be a part of cross country because we're usually the first sport to go against them each year," said head coach Debbie Utesch. "We take a lot of pride in being able to start that off with a W."
Â
Henderson pulled away from the rest of the field to cruise to the finish in 21:35.05. Bonaguidi also pulled away from the pack to cross the line in 22:03.28. Sophomore Diana Hammerstone (22:14.69) finished third, just ahead of junior Stephanie Hayes (22:19.92) and sophomore Ashleigh Crawford (22:2.05). Junior Stacie Nadel finished sixth in 22:25.54 and freshman Hannah Knudsen rounded out Lehigh's top seven scorers with a time of 22:45.03.
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"We were trying to run in packs, so we packed to together and managed to sweep them," Bonaguidi said. "I don't know if we were expecting to sweep or not, but that was a really nice surprise."
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Next up for Lehigh was freshman Elyse Barkstrom (23:05.56) in 10th place overall, followed by Jenn Mickens (23:50.48) in 16th place, Ginger Pojednic (23:55.61) in 18th and Grace Eckstein (24:06.81) in 20th. As a team, the Mountain Hawks averaged 22:07 on the six-kilometer course.
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"The women did a tremendous job," Utesch said. "We had really specific controlled mile splits this week, and surprisingly we hit them very closely. It really let us work our packs through a certain point in the race before we decided to just go and run the second half. And it was really nice to see some of those packs continue to work together through the full 6,000 meters.
Â
"You always see kids, even if they don't truly understand the rivalry yet because they haven't been around that long, they really step up because they hear the stories from year to year," Utesch said. "There's just so many legacies and stories that go on and on, so it's awesome for them to be a part of that."
Â
After a week off, Lehigh will return to action at the Coast-to-Coast Battle in Beantown on September 22.
Â
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
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
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