Men's Track And Field Set For 2018-19 Season

11/30/2018 5:10:00 PM | Men's Track and Field

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The men's track and field team looks to get off to a hot start on December 1 as it hosts the Lehigh Season Opener at Rauch Fieldhouse to kick off the season.

Finishing fourth in the Patriot League Indoor Championship and fifth in the Outdoor Championship, the Mountain Hawks were a competitive bunch last season and look to keep that same mindset coming into the new season.

"For the first meet, the advantage of being at home are slightly less. It's a smaller meet used to break up training, and we've been training for a while now. One of the luxuries we have over the fall sports is that we get to train our kids for a longer period of time before the start of the season where we're all together," said head coach Matt Utesch. "Last year we had a great crop of freshmen that made a large impact on our program culturally, and they'll have a big impact on the freshman coming in this year."

An area the Mountain Hawks should be strong and competitive is in distance running. After a competitive cross country season, junior Jeffrey Kirshenbaum, junior Kip Yegon, and sophomore Sean Brown look to anchor the distance team.

Yegon won the Steeplechase in the Patriot League Championship last season with a time of 9:06.58 along with placing in the top-10 in the 1000-meter indoor finals. Brown and Kirshenbaum were two of the leaders for Mountain Hawks this cross-country season, with Brown finishing first among Lehigh runners at the cross-country championship at Bucknell this year while Kirshenbaum found himself the top Lehigh runner on numerous occasions.

"I would say the men had a frustrating cross country season, and my hope is that we can iron some things out in the indoor season and get back to where we were on the track last season. We want to have a successful season this year with our distance runners which I think will help them have a successful cross country season next year," said Utesch.

Senior Emre Soybas will look to be one of the top sprinters for the Mountain Hawks, finishing sixth in the Patriot League Indoor Championship 400-meter run along with an eighth-place finish in the Outdoor Championship 400-meter run.

Joining Soybas among sprinters are sophomores Samuel Tapera and Matt Solomon, the only returners from the 100-meter race in the Patriot League Outdoor Championship last season. Soybas and Tapera will also be looked upon in the 200-meter race as well.

Sophomore Evan El-Halawani saw great success wirth Lehigh in the 400-meter hurdles in the Patriot League Championship last season, finishing seventh.

"We have a super group of kids coming in this year for sprints and middle distance. Evan looks more confident coming into this year and Sam has made a decision that he's going to take over the league," said Utesch. "Emre is a journeyman; he works hard and looks to be in store for his best season."

After seeing Trevor Knowles run over the competition the last four years in the heptathlon and decathlon, the Mountain Hawks will see Kyle Sult take up the mantle.

"Kyle has taken over the work ethic and was recently named one of our captains. He has the work ethic to be a champion, and he may carry the mantle. The torch has been passed, and he knows the shoes he has to fill, but Kyle is up for the task," said Utesch.

Lehigh will get a good amount of experience back at throws, with senior Alexander Rodgers and Sophomore Riley LaRiviere coming back after top-15 results in the indoor championship shot put.

"I think it's difficult to make an impact in the throws with how the weight increases. Alex has done a great job leading the throwers and Riley has made great strides during the offseason with his training. Alex was named one of our captains this year and he's done a great job with the transition of coaches. Anastasios Mouzakis is another name to watch out for, and I think he'll have a strong year as well," said Utesch.

Joey Kelly and Max Jordan return to lead the Mountain Hawks at the pole vault, with both posting top-15 results in the Patriot League Indoor Championship. Kelly also placed ninth at the Patriot League Outdoor Championship.

"The biggest compliment that we can give our pole vaulters is from the Navy, who tends to do very well in the pole vault. Their coach said to me last season that (Joey and Max) are the two guys I'm worried about next year. They're both committed and students of the event.," said Utesch.

Senior Ryan Givens headlined the jumps for the Mountain Hawks last season, finishing third in the high jump in the Patriot League Indoor Champion along with a third-place finish in the long jump.

"Ryan is sick of the lower levels of the podium; he's been on the podium pretty much every year, but never on top. He's got his climbing poles and hiking boots on and he's ready to go. I think he's going to do some great things this year," said Utesch.

Lehigh will introduce 13 newcomers to the team this season with the men looking to test their mettle.

"Nicholas Crociata will be one of the freshmen that will be in the mix along with Michael Nardelli in the hurdles who is being tutored by Evan, so that's a great combination as well," said Utesch.

Lehigh will compete against Moravian and Muhlenberg Saturday in the season opener.

The Lehigh Season Opener starts with the field events at 10 a.m. before the track events start going at Rauch Fieldhouse starting at 11 a.m. Complete results will be posted on Lehighsports.com following the meet and live results will be available at mitchelltiming.com.