Photo by: Justin Lafleur
Lehigh Eyes to Continue Success at Lafayette Saturday
9/17/2021 12:37:00 PM | Men's Cross Country
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh men's cross country team is ready for another meeting in its historic rivalry with Lafayette, as the teams will square off on Saturday in Easton. The Mountain Hawks will be searching for their 22nd straight victory over the Leopards. The men will race at 10:15 a.m. following the women at 9:30 at Lafayette's Metzger Field Athletic Complex. The men's race will be an 8K.
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"It's a great opportunity to showcase not just our sport and the history of our sport at Lehigh, but it's also a great opportunity for our team to also get in a race where the times really are irrelevant and it's about competing head-to-head," said Lehigh head coach Todd Etters. "You can't get a better competition than two teams showing up for a dual meet. That's what we're really excited about."
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Etters has an appreciation for the history of the Lehigh-Lafayette matchup.
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"I'm looking at the Brown and White digital archives; there were cross country races at Lehigh's campus in the 1890s," he said. "The dual meet itself means so much to the history of our program, to all of our alums and to our current team. They want to be part of something special when they get to race them."
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Ranked 12th in the most recent USTFCCCA Mid-Atlantic Rankings, Lehigh is coming off a second-place finish at the Lehigh Invitational on Sept. 3. The Mountain Hawks placed three runners inside the top 10, led by junior Connor Melko, who finished fifth (18:18.10) in the 6K course to earn Patriot League Male Runner of the Week.
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Junior Tyler French (seventh, 18:29.1) and graduate student Seth Slavin (10th, 18:44.6) also finished in the top 10.
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"We had some new names emerge in the cross country scene at Lehigh in our first meet. That was great to see," said Etters. "It wasn't surprising for anyone in the program because we saw people like Tyler French working his tail off, and expecting him to be up there. It's also nice to see Connor Melko pick up where he left off from track and perform well.
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"We also have a lot of contributors who are knocking on the door to be high-level contributors in our program and the league," Etters continued. "A meet like this is the perfect time to step up."
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Etters expects his team to do just that. He's liked the team's consistency through practice and the team's one meet thus far.
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"It's early in the year, but we were pleased with the results," said Etters. "More than that, our training has gone really well and the attitude on the team is extremely positive. They're prepared to do what it takes to achieve some big things this year. Lafayette is a meet that's very important to us, so we're expecting to be really focused this weekend and we want to come out of there with a win."
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Saturday is an opportunity to compete in a way that's different than larger meets with multiple schools involved.
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"It's rare across the college landscape to have this type of meet," said Etters. "There's no place to hide in a crowd. We know what they have, they know what we have. It's going to be our strengths vs. their strengths. I love the idea of our top guy having to beat their top guy, so on and so forth. It's exciting to know that no matter who you are on the team – whether you're the top runner or farther back – you have a race on your hands and you're going to play a significant role."
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"Everyone's relevant on Saturday."
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"It's a great opportunity to showcase not just our sport and the history of our sport at Lehigh, but it's also a great opportunity for our team to also get in a race where the times really are irrelevant and it's about competing head-to-head," said Lehigh head coach Todd Etters. "You can't get a better competition than two teams showing up for a dual meet. That's what we're really excited about."
Â
Etters has an appreciation for the history of the Lehigh-Lafayette matchup.
Â
"I'm looking at the Brown and White digital archives; there were cross country races at Lehigh's campus in the 1890s," he said. "The dual meet itself means so much to the history of our program, to all of our alums and to our current team. They want to be part of something special when they get to race them."
Â
Ranked 12th in the most recent USTFCCCA Mid-Atlantic Rankings, Lehigh is coming off a second-place finish at the Lehigh Invitational on Sept. 3. The Mountain Hawks placed three runners inside the top 10, led by junior Connor Melko, who finished fifth (18:18.10) in the 6K course to earn Patriot League Male Runner of the Week.
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Junior Tyler French (seventh, 18:29.1) and graduate student Seth Slavin (10th, 18:44.6) also finished in the top 10.
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"We had some new names emerge in the cross country scene at Lehigh in our first meet. That was great to see," said Etters. "It wasn't surprising for anyone in the program because we saw people like Tyler French working his tail off, and expecting him to be up there. It's also nice to see Connor Melko pick up where he left off from track and perform well.
Â
"We also have a lot of contributors who are knocking on the door to be high-level contributors in our program and the league," Etters continued. "A meet like this is the perfect time to step up."
Â
Etters expects his team to do just that. He's liked the team's consistency through practice and the team's one meet thus far.
Â
"It's early in the year, but we were pleased with the results," said Etters. "More than that, our training has gone really well and the attitude on the team is extremely positive. They're prepared to do what it takes to achieve some big things this year. Lafayette is a meet that's very important to us, so we're expecting to be really focused this weekend and we want to come out of there with a win."
Â
Saturday is an opportunity to compete in a way that's different than larger meets with multiple schools involved.
Â
"It's rare across the college landscape to have this type of meet," said Etters. "There's no place to hide in a crowd. We know what they have, they know what we have. It's going to be our strengths vs. their strengths. I love the idea of our top guy having to beat their top guy, so on and so forth. It's exciting to know that no matter who you are on the team – whether you're the top runner or farther back – you have a race on your hands and you're going to play a significant role."
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"Everyone's relevant on Saturday."
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Players Mentioned
Lehigh Sports Central: Men's Cross Country
Wednesday, October 01
2025 Lehigh Men's Cross Country Season Preview
Thursday, August 28
Lehigh Sports Central: Men's Cross Country
Wednesday, October 02
2024 Men's Cross Country season preview
Thursday, August 29
