Saturday, October 16
Princeton, NJ
9:45 a.m.
Lehigh University
at
Princeton Invitational
Photo by: Justin Lafleur
Lehigh Places Eighth in Strong Effort at Princeton Invitational
10/16/2021 4:12:00 PM | Men's Cross Country
PRINCETON, N.J. – The Lehigh men's cross country team put forth a strong effort at Saturday's Princeton Invitational, placing eighth out of 21 teams with 237 points. Junior Connor Melko led Lehigh for the fourth time in as many meets this season, finishing the 8K in 25:09.9, which was good for 25th overall.
"I think it was a good day overall," said Lehigh head coach Todd Etters. "We're getting better every race and have a lot of momentum going into the championship phase of the season."
Right behind Melko was graduate student Seth Slavin in 31st overall (25:17.7). Junior Tyler French placed 45th (25:32.9), senior Avery Lederer came in 61st (25:46.1), while freshman Aidan Lynch rounded out Lehigh's scorers – posting a 75th-place finish (25:56.8).
"Connor and Seth rebounded from a little bit of an off day at Paul Short, so it was nice to see them up front," said Etters. "They need to keep challenging themselves, as they can keep moving up even higher than they are. Tyler French is holding down a crucial spot on our team. Going into the Patriot League Championships, we just have to do a better job of getting our pack with Tyler. If we can do that and have four-to-five guys run closer to him, that can really help our team."
Also within seconds of scoring was graduate student Brad DeMassa in 77th (25:58.8).
"I thought we did a much better job at running disciplined and being controlled and patient throughout the race," said Etters. "If you look at the results of this race, you can see how well you move up or down and almost every one of our guys was consistently moving up. That's a great sign."
In addition to the Princeton Invitational, three Mountain Hawks ran at the Lafayette Leopard Invitational on Saturday morning in Easton. Sophomore Will Tikiob was Lehigh's top finisher, coming in 10th overall with a time of 26:44.98.
The Mountain Hawks will return to action in two weekends when they host the Patriot League Championships on the Goodman Campus Cross Country Course. The men's 8K on Sunday, Oct. 31 is set to begin at 12 p.m.
"I think it was a good day overall," said Lehigh head coach Todd Etters. "We're getting better every race and have a lot of momentum going into the championship phase of the season."
Right behind Melko was graduate student Seth Slavin in 31st overall (25:17.7). Junior Tyler French placed 45th (25:32.9), senior Avery Lederer came in 61st (25:46.1), while freshman Aidan Lynch rounded out Lehigh's scorers – posting a 75th-place finish (25:56.8).
"Connor and Seth rebounded from a little bit of an off day at Paul Short, so it was nice to see them up front," said Etters. "They need to keep challenging themselves, as they can keep moving up even higher than they are. Tyler French is holding down a crucial spot on our team. Going into the Patriot League Championships, we just have to do a better job of getting our pack with Tyler. If we can do that and have four-to-five guys run closer to him, that can really help our team."
Also within seconds of scoring was graduate student Brad DeMassa in 77th (25:58.8).
"I thought we did a much better job at running disciplined and being controlled and patient throughout the race," said Etters. "If you look at the results of this race, you can see how well you move up or down and almost every one of our guys was consistently moving up. That's a great sign."
In addition to the Princeton Invitational, three Mountain Hawks ran at the Lafayette Leopard Invitational on Saturday morning in Easton. Sophomore Will Tikiob was Lehigh's top finisher, coming in 10th overall with a time of 26:44.98.
The Mountain Hawks will return to action in two weekends when they host the Patriot League Championships on the Goodman Campus Cross Country Course. The men's 8K on Sunday, Oct. 31 is set to begin at 12 p.m.
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
/ Men's Cross Country
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