Saturday, September 14
Bethlehem, Pa.
10:00 A.M.
Lehigh University
16
vs
44
Lafayette
Women's Cross Country Makes It 15 Straight Over Lafayette
9/14/2019 12:18:00 PM | Women's Cross Country
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Make it 15 straight! The Lehigh women's cross country team tamed the Leopards of Lafayette on Saturday morning winning the race with a low score of 16 to 46. The Mountain Hawks had eight runners fill out the top-10 and four inside the top-5.
Senior Ashleigh Crawford crossed the finish line first and won the 6K race for Lehigh with a time of 21:59.80. Today's race marked the first win of Crawford's collegiate career in cross country season.
"Ashleigh registered her first college cross country win today," said head coach Debbie Utesch. "She made a commitment to change her cross country racing approach and had to do battle with her brain most of the race, but I'm very happy for her that she got to cross the mat first.
This morning was the first time that Lehigh ran a full squad. When the gun sounded, the Brown and White immediately jumped out ahead as a pack as they put the pressure on Lafayette right away. At the quarter mark of the race, the Mountain Hawks had six runners lined up parallel as they came across behind the field hockey field.
When the runners came across the bridge at the halfway mark, Dianna Hamerstone and Hannah Bonaguidi were leading the pack for Lehigh. Just a few yards behind them was Crawford, Susie Poore and Lafayette's top runner Autumn Sands.
As they approached the third mile, the strong front runners of Lehigh looked at each other and decided it was time to make a run for it and that was when Crawford moved ahead.
"It was really exciting," said Crawford. "Throughout the end of the course I was able to catch back up with Hannah and Dianna."
In her first race of the 2019 season, Hammerstone finished second for the Mountain Hawks with a time of 22:01.50. "I just wanted to come out and see what I could do today. I now have a starting point and I can shoot for other goals throughout the season." Added Hammerstone.
Bonaguidi finished third for Lehigh with a time of 22:06.0, while Poore, the Lehigh Invitational winner finished fourth with a time of 22:17.20.
Behind the fifth-place finisher, the Lehigh runners started flooding in as sophomore Nicole Abbondandelo finished sixth overall and was the fifth Lehigh runner to cross the line at 22:29.70. Jade Sessions recorded a seventh-place finish with a time of 22:31.20. Sophomore Martina Sell and freshman Madison Zaun finished ninth and 10th respectively with times of 22:38.0 and 22:47.0.
"It was great to put the squad together and see how many interchangeable parts we have. Lafayette is a nice young team and we had to go into the meet prepared for them. We executed our race plan nicely and it was great to see four white singlets in the front coming across the bridge." added Utesch.
"Throughout my entire career here, we've always wanted to be a pack running team and this year I think we really do have that. We definitely have work that we want to keep doing, but it's a lot easier doing that when you have two or three teammates right around you to help you throughout the way." concluded Crawford.
Up next, the women's team will take a week off before heading to the CCSU Ted Owen Invitational on September 28.
Senior Ashleigh Crawford crossed the finish line first and won the 6K race for Lehigh with a time of 21:59.80. Today's race marked the first win of Crawford's collegiate career in cross country season.
"Ashleigh registered her first college cross country win today," said head coach Debbie Utesch. "She made a commitment to change her cross country racing approach and had to do battle with her brain most of the race, but I'm very happy for her that she got to cross the mat first.
This morning was the first time that Lehigh ran a full squad. When the gun sounded, the Brown and White immediately jumped out ahead as a pack as they put the pressure on Lafayette right away. At the quarter mark of the race, the Mountain Hawks had six runners lined up parallel as they came across behind the field hockey field.
When the runners came across the bridge at the halfway mark, Dianna Hamerstone and Hannah Bonaguidi were leading the pack for Lehigh. Just a few yards behind them was Crawford, Susie Poore and Lafayette's top runner Autumn Sands.
As they approached the third mile, the strong front runners of Lehigh looked at each other and decided it was time to make a run for it and that was when Crawford moved ahead.
"It was really exciting," said Crawford. "Throughout the end of the course I was able to catch back up with Hannah and Dianna."
In her first race of the 2019 season, Hammerstone finished second for the Mountain Hawks with a time of 22:01.50. "I just wanted to come out and see what I could do today. I now have a starting point and I can shoot for other goals throughout the season." Added Hammerstone.
Bonaguidi finished third for Lehigh with a time of 22:06.0, while Poore, the Lehigh Invitational winner finished fourth with a time of 22:17.20.
Behind the fifth-place finisher, the Lehigh runners started flooding in as sophomore Nicole Abbondandelo finished sixth overall and was the fifth Lehigh runner to cross the line at 22:29.70. Jade Sessions recorded a seventh-place finish with a time of 22:31.20. Sophomore Martina Sell and freshman Madison Zaun finished ninth and 10th respectively with times of 22:38.0 and 22:47.0.
"It was great to put the squad together and see how many interchangeable parts we have. Lafayette is a nice young team and we had to go into the meet prepared for them. We executed our race plan nicely and it was great to see four white singlets in the front coming across the bridge." added Utesch.
"Throughout my entire career here, we've always wanted to be a pack running team and this year I think we really do have that. We definitely have work that we want to keep doing, but it's a lot easier doing that when you have two or three teammates right around you to help you throughout the way." concluded Crawford.
Up next, the women's team will take a week off before heading to the CCSU Ted Owen Invitational on September 28.
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
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