Crawford Takes Steeplechase Title as Lehigh Opens Outdoor Season in Orlando

Friday, March 16

Orlando, Fla.

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Lehigh University

Black and Gold Challenge

Photo by: Don Paul

Crawford Takes Steeplechase Title as Lehigh Opens Outdoor Season in Orlando

3/17/2018 6:26:00 PM | Women's Track and Field

Complete Results: TFRRS | PDF

ORLANDO, Fla. – Sophomore Ashleigh Crawford took home first place in the steeplechase and junior Maura Henderson took bronze in the 3,000m to lead the Lehigh women's track and field team at the UCF Black and Gold Challenge. The two-day meet concluded on Saturday afternoon and capped a weeklong spring break trip for many members of the Mountain Hawks.

Crawford highlighted Friday's first day of action by taking home the top prize in the 3,000m steeplechase, finishing nearly a second ahead of the second place finisher in ECAC qualifying time of 10:52.94. Junior Stacie Nadel was close behind and rounded out the top five in 11:21.57.

Sophomore Hannah Bonaguidi raced to a seventh place finish in the 1500m invitational, finishing just 1.10 seconds behind her PR. Henderson followed just behind in eighth place at 4:41.80. In Friday's field events, freshman Madisyn Hawkins led the way for Lehigh in 11th place (3.50m) of the pole vault and sophomore Cate Shippee set a new PR of 10.80m in the triple jump. Tyler Bannister led Lehigh in 11th place in the high jump, while Jordan Otto tied 14th, after they both cleared 1.58 meters.

On Saturday, Henderson landed on the podium with a third place finish in 10:04.44 in the 3K, finishing within four seconds of the top two runners from UConn and South Carolina. Elsewhere on the track, a pair of freshman paced the Mountain Hawks in the 100m hurdles, led by freshman Brett DeWeese (15.59) and Madison Harding (15.61). LU also had two competitors in the 400m hurdles, led by Kaja Skerlj (1:06.37) in 10th and Erin Racano in 11th (1:06.46). Sophomore Brooke Schaeffer led the way for Lehigh in the 400m dash, crossing the finish line in 58.86 seconds.

Saturday's 800m open run saw a pair of top 10 finishes for the Mountain Hawks with Mary Casey finishing fifth overall out of 36 in 2:17.06, as well as Crawford's ninth place time of 2:18.82. Freshman Kara Bonner made her collegiate outdoor debut in 17th place in 2:24.56. In the 1500m open on Saturday afternoon, senior Laura Barnes landed in the top 10 with a 10th place time of 4:48.92. The meet concluded with the 4x400 relay team of Racano, Skerlj, Schaeffer and Casey combining on a time of 4:00.20 to place ninth.

In the field events, Freshman Brittany Curtin got Saturday rolling for Lehigh with her collegiate debut in the discus, finishing second in her fight and 14th overall at 42.29m. DeWeese led Lehigh in the long jump at 5.06m to place 21st, followed by Shippee in 22nd at 4.88m.

Next up, several members of the Mountain Hawks will head back down south next weekend to compete at the Winthrop Invitational on Thursday-Saturday, while the rest of the team head to the Monmouth Season-Opener on Friday and Saturday.

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