Friday, October 15
University Park, PA
10:45 a.m.
Lehigh University
at
Penn State National Open
Photo by: Don Paul
Women’s Cross Country to Race at Penn State, Lafayette This Weekend
10/14/2021 2:16:00 PM | Women's Cross Country
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The regionally-ranked Lehigh women's cross country squad is set to continue its race schedule this weekend when the Mountain Hawks have a split squad – competing at the Penn State National Open Meet on Friday, then the Lafayette Leopard Invitational on Saturday. This weekend will mark Lehigh's final tune-ups before the Patriot League Championships, which the Mountain Hawks will host on Sunday, Oct. 31.
The start time for the women's races on both Friday and Saturday are 10:45 a.m.
"I think our student-athletes are starting to get pretty excited," said Lehigh head coach Debbie Utesch. "We had a really solid performance at Paul Short. We're now into the last non-championship season competition, so they can feel things starting to culminate a little bit… that culmination of the season is creeping closer. They've had some tremendous workouts and they've really challenged themselves to see if they could perform at a higher level in their workouts. They know they'll reap the benefits in about two weeks as we creep closer to the Patriot League Championships."
Last time out, the Mountain Hawks placed 21st at the 47th Annual Lehigh Paul Short Run presented by ASICS, and were rewarded with a spot in the ensuing USTFCCCA Regional Rankings, coming in at No. 12. Senior Jade Sessions led the Mountain Hawks at Paul Short, placing 99th overall with a time of 21:41.5. Sessions and a collection of Lehigh's top runners will be competing at Penn State Friday.
"We landed in the regional rankings finally after the Paul Short Run, so this is an opportunity to even creep up a little bit higher if we go out there and perform," said Utesch. "It's a great opportunity to fine tune some of the things that they as individual competitors work on within a competition. We've talked with different individuals about the things they are challenged with mid-race and how to work through that. I would say this weekend is a little bit more of a mental fine-tuning opportunity."
Friday will mark the Mountain Hawks' second road meet of the season as they will host Patriots and NCAA Regionals as well.
"Penn State is a fantastic facility," said Utesch. "It's the other course in our region that hosts that NCAA Qualifier every other year with us. We have some women who have never been on this course, but we also have some women who raced at PSU during their freshmen year, so they're excited to get back. It's a true championship type of course with a very high-caliber competition. It's an opportunity to go up against some of the best Division I teams in the country."
It's also an opportunity to simply get away and bond with each other on the road.
"Because we're hosting all of the championships this year, this is our only opportunity to really travel as a team during this particular cross country season," said Utesch. "There's a lot of value that comes with traveling with your teammates – from going on the bus to staying overnight in the hotel to eating together and previewing a new course that you're not familiar with together. It is a big educational opportunity for some of our younger people to just learn how to travel as a Division I athlete. That's something we haven't done for this season, or really for two years now."
Those Mountain Hawks not competing at Penn State Friday will head across town to Easton on Saturday morning for the Lafayette Leopard Invitational.
Following this weekend's action, the Mountain Hawks will look ahead to the Patriot League Championships, hosted on the Goodman Campus Cross Country Course on Sunday, Oct. 31. The women's 6K will begin at 11 a.m.
The start time for the women's races on both Friday and Saturday are 10:45 a.m.
"I think our student-athletes are starting to get pretty excited," said Lehigh head coach Debbie Utesch. "We had a really solid performance at Paul Short. We're now into the last non-championship season competition, so they can feel things starting to culminate a little bit… that culmination of the season is creeping closer. They've had some tremendous workouts and they've really challenged themselves to see if they could perform at a higher level in their workouts. They know they'll reap the benefits in about two weeks as we creep closer to the Patriot League Championships."
Last time out, the Mountain Hawks placed 21st at the 47th Annual Lehigh Paul Short Run presented by ASICS, and were rewarded with a spot in the ensuing USTFCCCA Regional Rankings, coming in at No. 12. Senior Jade Sessions led the Mountain Hawks at Paul Short, placing 99th overall with a time of 21:41.5. Sessions and a collection of Lehigh's top runners will be competing at Penn State Friday.
"We landed in the regional rankings finally after the Paul Short Run, so this is an opportunity to even creep up a little bit higher if we go out there and perform," said Utesch. "It's a great opportunity to fine tune some of the things that they as individual competitors work on within a competition. We've talked with different individuals about the things they are challenged with mid-race and how to work through that. I would say this weekend is a little bit more of a mental fine-tuning opportunity."
Friday will mark the Mountain Hawks' second road meet of the season as they will host Patriots and NCAA Regionals as well.
"Penn State is a fantastic facility," said Utesch. "It's the other course in our region that hosts that NCAA Qualifier every other year with us. We have some women who have never been on this course, but we also have some women who raced at PSU during their freshmen year, so they're excited to get back. It's a true championship type of course with a very high-caliber competition. It's an opportunity to go up against some of the best Division I teams in the country."
It's also an opportunity to simply get away and bond with each other on the road.
"Because we're hosting all of the championships this year, this is our only opportunity to really travel as a team during this particular cross country season," said Utesch. "There's a lot of value that comes with traveling with your teammates – from going on the bus to staying overnight in the hotel to eating together and previewing a new course that you're not familiar with together. It is a big educational opportunity for some of our younger people to just learn how to travel as a Division I athlete. That's something we haven't done for this season, or really for two years now."
Those Mountain Hawks not competing at Penn State Friday will head across town to Easton on Saturday morning for the Lafayette Leopard Invitational.
Following this weekend's action, the Mountain Hawks will look ahead to the Patriot League Championships, hosted on the Goodman Campus Cross Country Course on Sunday, Oct. 31. The women's 6K will begin at 11 a.m.
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