Men's Cross Country Dominates Lafayette

Saturday, September 14

Bethlehem, Pa.

10:30 A.M.

Lehigh University

Lafayette

9/14/2019 2:20:00 PM | Men's Cross Country

Results

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – With the women's team beating Lafayette right before them, the Lehigh men's cross country team knew they had to take care of business. Yes, the Mountain Hawks took care of business as they dominated Lafayette. The Brown and White had six of the top seven runners. With the win, both Lehigh teams started off the 2019-20 sports year with wins over the Leopards.

"Today marks the 21st straight year of beating our rival," said head coach Todd Etters. "Winnings isn't easy and I am impressed that we continue to meet the challenge head on each season."

Junior Brad DeMassa won the 8K race for Lehigh with a time of 25:34.20. DeMassa broke free in the final mile to lead the Brown and White to the win.

"I am very impressed with Brad," stated Etters. "He fights hard every day and he deserved to win today."

At the start of the race, it was the Leopards jumping out early as Lehigh started under control as a pack. As the race progressed, things changed as Lehigh's entire pack took control of the race. At the quarter mark, racing behind the soccer and field hockey fields, eight runners were parallel to the boundaries and out in front. All Lafayette runners were blocked by the Lehigh wall.

As they raced across the bridge in the third mile, the runners were spaced out a bit. Senior Kip Yegon was out in front as DeMassa, Michael Mitchell and Connor Melko were right behind the leader. Brian Clayton, Lafayette's top runner was a few yards behind the four at the same time.

As they approached the straightaway for the finish, it was clear that the Lehigh runners were pushing as hard as they can. Following DeMassa, freshman Connor Melko had his best performance of the early season as he finished second with a time of 25:39.0. Right behind him was Michael Mitchell as he finished third with a time of 25:40.40.

"Connor and Michael deserve recognition for racing at a high level and for stepping up today." added Etters.

In fifth, Sean Brown was the fourth Lehigh runner to cross the line with a time of 25:51.80. Despite dropping the lead, Yegon jetted the final straightaway and finished strong with a time of 23:53.50 for a sixth-place finish.

Senior leader Jeffrey Kirshenbaum, the winner of the Lehigh Invitational came in seventh with a time of 26:04.40. Rounding out the top-10, Avery Lederer finished 10th and was the seventh Lehigh runner to cross the line at 26:14.90.

"I respect Lafayette and the rivalry that we have with them," said the winner DeMassa. "I tried sticking with the team, we've been working with a pack mentality this year. We stayed together through about the 5K mark and then as a group we looked around and said it was time to move. It could've been executed a little better, but I'm proud of us. We did our best."

Up next, the men will be running on Friday, Sep. 20 as they will compete in the Iona Meet of Champions. Friday's contest will mark the fourth consecutive weekend that the team will run in.