Men’s Track Set for Patriot League Indoor Championships this Weekend

Saturday, February 17

Lewisburg, Pa.

All Day

Lehigh University

Patriot League Championships

Photo by: Don Paul

Men’s Track Set for Patriot League Indoor Championships this Weekend

2/16/2018 11:00:00 AM | Men's Track and Field

Meet Information | Meet Schedule | Live Results | Live Video Stream (Sunday only) | PL Performance Lists

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – With 10 regular season meets in the rearview mirror, the Lehigh men's track and field team is set and ready for the 2017 Patriot League Championship meet this weekend in Lewisburg, Pa. The two-day event will serve as the culmination of the indoor season, before a month-long break leading into the start of the outdoor season in mid-March.

The championships will kick off on Saturday morning at 9 a.m. with the multis. Field events will follow at 12 p.m. and track events are scheduled for a 2 p.m. start. A complete schedule of events as well as other meet information are available at the top of this release. Sunday's second day of action will be streamed live online for free on the Patriot League Network (PatriotLeague.TV) beginning at 11:50 a.m.

"This year is a little bit different for us in that the league is different," said head coach Matt Utesch. "There really are six teams out of 10 that have a chance to win or be in the top three, and that changes the complexion of the league immensely. A premium will be put on first place league champions and we hope to have a number of those. The league to so deep across too many events and the exciting thing is that no one knows who is going to win. It is going to be one of the best, most competitive meets we have ever seen in the Patriot League, and that makes it exciting."

Multis
Senior Trevor Knowles and sophomore Kyle Sult will lead Lehigh in the heptathlon, with Sult holding the 8th seeded heptathlon score in the league's descending order list. Knowles holds the top spot in the league by 670 points over than the next closest finisher, and his score of 5,596 ranks 17th in the country. With the top 16 multis in the nation earning bids to the NCAA Championships, Knowles has sights set on improving his school record mark to become LU's first indoor national qualifier. He has won all six multis at the league championships thus far in his career and will be seeking his fourth straight indoor hep title.

"I think Trevor needs another 100 points to make it to the indoor national championships, and I think he has it in him," Utesch said. "We rested him last week and he's totally healthy. He's hungry and knows where he is on the (national) list. I think he has a very good chance to make it to the NCAA Championships."

Sprint/Mid-Distance
In the sprints, senior Michael Camera leads the team in the 200m, with junior Emre Soybas among the team leaders after posting two season-best times in the 200m and 400m at last week's Bucknell Tune-Up. Freshman Samuel Tapera turned in a time of 7.03 seconds to lead Lehigh in the 60m dash, 13th in the PL.

"Coach Bruno has a great young group that's he's building," Utesch said. "I think they will be very strong in the future, but I think they're a little bit young right now. Emre Soybas is leading that group really well. Sam Tapera is so explosive and he has run the exact same time two or three races in a row now. He's ready to have a pretty big race and will be a guy to watch over the next couple of years."

Kyle Kirk leads the team in the 500m after putting together a strong senior campaign, running PRs in the 500m, 800m, 1000m, and the mile. Matt Kravitz (7th) and Kirk (9th) hold the team's top times in the 800m, with Kravitz also holding the team's top marks in the 1,000m (2:29.43) and the mile (4:08.52).

Knowles will also contend for a league title in the 60m hurdles. He has improved on his time each meet this season, beginning at 8.50 seconds at the Lehigh Season Opener, and working his way down to tying the school record of 8.21, before breaking the record in 8.15 at the Dr. Sander Invitational, which currently ranks No. 2 in the league. He will be joined in contention by Sult (9th) and freshman Evan El-Halawani (13th).

"In the hurdles, we're going to be fairly competitive," Utesch said. "Trevor has a good thing going and Kyle Sult is our other multi who is very good in the hurdles. El-Halawani is going to do great things."

Distance
Entering this weekend, Jeffrey Kirshenbaum holds fourth place times in both the 3K and 5K. He is joined in contention for the podium by senior Patrick Reilly, who has carried over his success from cross country season where he qualified for nationals. Junior Samuel Layding also finds himself in the top 10 of the 5K, ranking eighth among PL runners this season.

"We're really solid in the distances," Utesch said. "Our 3K and 5K guys are excellent and that's having Pat Reilly coming off a national qualifier in XC in the fall. He has a lot of confidence and brings other guys along with him when he's racing well."

Field Events
Ryan Givens ranks among the league leaders in both the high jump and long jump, clearing 2.05 in the high jump (third in the league) and also sits fifth in the PL in the long jump. Knowles could also find himself in contention with the eighth seeded long jump (6.86m) and pole vault (4.70m). Senior Michael Gooding holds the No. 6 triple jump in the league at 14.23m, a PR he set at the Fast Times Before Finals.

"We have a packed field in the jumps," Utesch said. "Givens has scored there before and Matt Solomon could jump over seven meters. He's very talented and fast and we're hoping he can come along in the triple jump. Mike Gooding has a great shot and I would watch Taj-Blount Oden too because he's jumping very well and has not had his best jump yet. Givens is a high jump contender for the win and podium."

Over in the throws, Anastasios Mouzakis looks to cap what has been a solid freshman season thus far. He will enter the weight throw seeded sixth in the PL (17.42m), and Alexander Rodgers enters in the top 10 of the shot put.

"We're fairly young again in the throws, but really solid," Utesch said." "Mouzakis is throwing very well. He's starting to figure out how much hard work will help him and where he can get to. I expect some points out of our throwers."

Lehighsports.com will have a complete recap after both days of competition.

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