Season Preview: Women's Track and Field Ready to Take On the 2021-22 Season

Friday, December 3

Bethlehem, Pa.

5:00 PM

Lehigh University

Fast Times Before Finals

Season Preview: Women's Track and Field Ready to Take On the 2021-22 Season

12/1/2021 1:14:00 PM | Women's Track and Field

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh women's track and field program is ready to begin their much anticipated 2021-22 season Friday night at Rauch Fieldhouse. With a combination of returning athletes in leadership roles and impressive first-year additions, the Mountain Hawks are ready to dominate this season.

"Goals are exactly the same as last year," said head coach Matt Utesch. "We want people on the podium and people scoring. I think we have a lot of that personnel on the squad right now and I think if we can get them healthy and ready to compete they will deliver."

Last season the Mountain Hawks placed first at the Patriot League Indoor Challenge, which took the place of the annual Patriot League Championship, and finished fifth at the outdoor Patriot League Championships.

Lehigh's season opener will begin late Friday afternoon with the Fast Times Before Finals (PDF) at Rauch Fieldhouse. The unscored meet is set to begin at 5 p.m. and feature DeSales, Kutztown, Moravian, Muhlehberg, Temple, Stevens Institute of Technology and West Chester.

Multis
The Mountain Hawks welcome several first-year athletes to the multis group this season led by senior Carly Carpino. Carpino, who finished 12th in the pentathlon at the 2020 Patriot League Championship is a leader on and off the track.

"Carly's really come into her own as an athlete," Utesch said. "She's doing a great job at practice and improving in high jump and hurdles. I'm expecting a lot of personal records for her."

First-year athletes Chelsi Chevannes and Shelby Dejana will be joining the multis group for their Lehigh women's track and field debut.

"For the first-years, we were really excited about them during the recruiting process. They haven't disappointed yet and I doubt they will in this first meet," he said.

Jumps
Lehigh has an extremely powerful group of jumpers returning for the 2021-22 season. The Mountain Hawks are returning sophomore Kerry Perna, who was named All-East in the high jump, finished third at the outdoor Patriot League Championships in 2021. Senior Hannah Figueroa and junior Calista Marzolino return for Lehigh, bringing experience and leadership for the Mountain Hawks.

Juniors Avery Roze and Rachel Sequeira return for the Mountain Hawks in the long and triple jump events and are looking to make a huge impact this season. Sophomore Nina Cialone also returns for Lehigh this season. She finished third in the triple jump at the Patriot League Indoor Challenge in her first year as a Mountain Hawk.

Lehigh is adding six first-year students to the jumping group this season. Izabel Fronc, who will be competing in the high jump and Keisha Modi, who will be competing in the long and triple jump, are two first-year athletes to keep an eye out for this season.

Throws
Teasha McKoy and Veronica Meyer return for their senior seasons for Lehigh this year. McKoy earned All-East honors in the discus in 2021 and second team All-Patriot League honors in the discus during the 2019 season. During the 2020 indoor season, she earned a new personal record and finished first overall in the shot put at the Lafayette Dual Meet (13.13m). Meyer finished fifth overall in the weight throw, where she set a new personal record at the Angry Birds Challenge in 2020 (14.26m).

Joining McKoy and Meyer is first-year student Guliana Bottino. Utesch has high expectations for the throws group this year.

"The leadership in this group is amongst the best we've had, if not that best we've ever had," said Utesch. "Last year, Teasha had a great year under unfortunate circumstances. I think this group will pick up right where they left off last year and do great things."

Vault
Senior Carly Roche and junior Claire Gatermann are returning for the Mountain Hawks this season. Roche earned a personal best and finished fourth at the 2020 Monmouth University Winter Invitational (3.35m). Gatermann quickly earned a personal best in her first-year at Lehigh at the 2020 UAlbany Winter Classic where she finished seventh (3.20m).

Two first-year students, Randi Conroy and Casey Talamini-Kelemen will be joining the vaulting group for the Mountain Hawks this season. Coach Utesch is looking forward to expanding the vaulting group this year.

"The person to watch is Casey and it might not be in this first meet but she's someone to watch this season," said Utesch. "She has a ton of room for improvement and is on the cusp of jumping high this season."

Hurdles/Sprint/Mid-Distance/Distance
Lehigh returns several key sprinters to this year's team, including seniors Madison Hackman and Camari Griffin. Hackman, who currently holds the school records in the 200m and 400m, is looking for an explosive senior year after missing the 2021 indoor season.

The sprint group has several student athletes returning for Lehigh this season. Sophomore Ashley Struck is expected to have an impressive second year for the Mountain Hawks after achieving five top five finishes in her first-year. Sophomores Claire Pedrick and Jordyn Hock will be making their debuts this season for Lehigh along with first-year students Melissa Cunningham and Stephanie Webb.

The Mountain Hawks return three student athletes to the hurdles group. Graduate student Kaja Skerlj returns for Lehigh this season after having a phenomenal 2020 season. She was second team all-Patriot League in the 400m hurdles. Senior Chae Kim is ready for her final season as a Mountain Hawk. She ended the 2021 indoor season with a first place finish in the 60mH at the Patriot League Indoor Challenge (9.37). Elke Knecht, a junior, is another student athlete returning for Lehigh this season. After not competing in the 2021 season, Coach Utesch is looking forward to having a full hurdles group this season.

"Chae is going to be really good," said Utesch. "She's been working extremely hard and she's ahead of where she was last year. Coach Brooke has spent a lot of one on one time working with her and we're excited to see what she does."

Seniors Hetty McMillian and Julia Dorley are leading the spring middle distance group for the Mountain Hawks this season. First-year athlete Amanda Mircovich is making her Lehigh debut this year. Utesch has high expectations for her and the spring middle distance group.

Lehigh is coming off of a fifth place finish at the Patriot League Cross Country Championships this season. The Mountain Hawks have several athletes returning in the middle and distance groups that will make an impact on the track and field season this year.

The middle distance group is returning three seniors this indoor season. Jade Sessions, Kara Bonner and Natalie Condon will be competing in their final seasons as Mountain Hawks. Sophomore Christina Yakaboski returns this season after having an impressive first-year at Lehigh. She won the 1500m at the Lafayette Invitational during the 2021 outdoor season and finished second in the mile at the 2021 Patriot League Indoor Challenge.

For the distance group, seniors Jamie Zamrin and Martina Sell and junior Madison Zaun are returning after a solid cross country season. Zamrin was named second team All-Patriot League in cross country in the spring after being the first Lehigh finisher in the Patriot League Championships. Sell finished fourth overall at the Lehigh-Loyola dual meet in 2020. Zaun was the second Lehigh finisher in the Patriot League Championships and was named All-East in the 5k.

Lehigh Season Opener
Friday's meet is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. at Rauch Fieldhouse with multi 60m hurdles, pole vault and weight throws. Complete meet information is available here (PDF). Check back to Lehighsports.com following the event for a full recap.