Saturday, January 28
Bethlehem, Pa.
2:00 PM
Lehigh University
118
vs
60
Lafayette Dual
Lehigh Defeats Lafayette 118-60 to Secure Ninth Straight Victory
1/28/2023 9:30:00 PM | Men's Track and Field
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The Mountain Hawks kept the winning streak alive as they defeated Lafayette 118-60 on Saturday afternoon in Rauch Fieldhouse in the Rivalry presented by Lehigh Valley Orthopedic Institute. The Lehigh men's track and field team claimed its ninth consecutive victory over the Leopards by winning 14 of the 17 events.
"We've had a good thing going for a long time so you just want to step in and be able to see that continue," said head coach Todd Etters. "For everyone on the team though, they treat the dual meet every year the same and it's the biggest meet that you can have in track and field to measure up against a team so we're proud of where we're at."
"I thought our throws crew really set the tone," Etters continued. "Once the field ended we had a pretty big lead on Lafayette and the track just went as well as we hoped. We had guys just step up and perform at a level that we expect to see them week in and week out. They just have to stay relaxed and as the competition gets more and more fierce and harder they have to step up and continue to be relaxed and confident in themselves and I think we'll see really good results."
The Mountain Hawks opened up their annual rivalry meet by winning five of the six field events. In the jumps, senior Ian Scott led the team with two first-place finishes. Scott won the long jump with a mark of 6.70m and went on to win the high jump with a mark of 1.92m. Lehigh went on to sweep both the long jump and high jump, with sophomore Gideon Coprivnicar (6.21m) and first-year Daniel Givens (6.07m) finishing second and third in the long jump and seniors Brittann Pierce (1.92m) and Eli Aaronson (1.87m) finishing second and third in the high jump.
Givens went on to earn his own first-place finish in the triple jump, winning the event with a mark of 13.01m. Lehigh also swept the triple jump, with sophomores Skyler Mott (12.99m) and Jordan Layos (12.55m) finishing second and third, respectively.
Lehigh's pole vaulters continued to shine as junior Conor Reilly and first-year Carter Bartz finished first and second, respectively. Reilly won the event with an IC4A qualifying mark of 4.83m to become fourth all-time in Lehigh history while Bartz finished with his own personal best of 4.68m to become ninth all-time.
The Mountain Hawks did not disappoint in the throws, adding five student-athletes to the top ten all-time list. Leading the way for Lehigh was sophomore Liam Lovering, who is now ranked third all-time in the shot put and fourth all-time in the weight throw. Lovering won the shot put with an IC4A qualifying mark of 16.62m and finished second in the weight throw with another IC4A qualifying mark of 17.45m.
"The nice thing with Liam is he's not alone," Etters said. "I know this sport can be so mental and so frustrating at times when things aren't clicking but when you see those guys, your teammates go out and they're putting big throws out there, I think that motivates everyone.
"Liam right now is putting the biggest throws out there so everyone who trains with him day in and day out I'm sure they're thinking, 'That can be me too,'" Etters continued. "That's what's cool about having an event group like that that's so deep. Coach Allison [Taub] is just doing everything right with them and she's really patient with them and disciplined with their training. I think they did a lot of bigger things in the weight room so they're stronger, they're faster and it's really showing in the results."
Senior Quinn Conlan, junior Achilles Mouzakis and sophomore Alex Clevenger all had solid performances that led to their names being added to Lehigh's all-time list. Conlan (16.58m) finished third overall in the weight while Mouzakis (16.57m) finished fourth. Clevenger finished second in the shot put with a mark of 16.16m.
While Lehigh dominated the field events, the team continued to shine on the track, winning nine events. Senior Connor Melko kicked things off for the Mountain Hawks in the mile, winning with an IC4A qualifying time of 4:14.42. Senior Jacob Martinez (4:!7.35) and first-year Dan Malatesta (4:18.45) followed suit, finishing second and third, respectively.
Following Melko's victory in the mile, Lehigh went on to sweep the next three track events. Junior Daniel Stipanov won the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.54 while Coprivnicar (8.91) and senior Vincent Polignano (9.01) followed with second and third-place finishes.
Senior Amondo Lemmon continued to improve, winning the 400m with a personal best of 51.32. Seniors Douglas Cooke and Jack Bush finished second and third overall with respective times of 52.58 and 53.54. Following the 400m, Lehigh went on to sweep the 500m with sophomore Patrez Thomas winning the event with a personal best of 1:08.04. First-year Noah Kim (1:08.59) and senior Thomas Leitner (1:09.03) finished second and third, respectively.
"We lost the 60m and the 200m but in both cases, we had two different guys diving across the finish line to try to win," said Etters. "I think that just shows that everyone feels like they want to carry their own weight for this team and contribute at a high level and we're willing to put it all out there to do that. They didn't get it done today in those events but with that kind of attitude is what they need to have to get it done so I'm excited about that."
The Mountain Hawks' middle distance and distance runners put up some solid times on the track following the sprints events. Leading the way was senior Kerem Ayhan who won the 800m with an IC4A qualifying time of 1:53.50. Ayhan, who broke the 1000m school record last Saturday, is now eighth all-time in the 800m.
Lehigh swept the 1000m with sophomore Aidan Lynch winning the event with a personal best of 2:30.45. Senior Joseph Cranley (2:30.51) and first-year Alex Heidemann (2:41.52) finished second and third, respectively. Senior Tyler French claimed one of Lehigh's final victories on the track, winning the 3000m with a time of 8:33.31.
With their ninth consecutive win over the Leopards secured, the Mountain Hawks continued to dominate on the track in the final two relay events. Lehigh's 4x400 relay team claimed the Mountain Hawks' second to last victory of the day. Thomas, Cooke, Ayhan and Lemmon competed in the relay, finishing with a time of 3:23.97.
In the final race of the day, Lehigh showed no signs of slowing down. Melko returned to the track with fellow senior Ryan Wycherley and first-years Henry Burd and Thomas Arnold to compete in the 4x800 relay. The four Mountain Hawks went on to win the last event of the day with a time of 8:04.23.
"It's exciting and it tells us we're in a really good place right now," Etters said. "The good thing is I don't feel like we're hanging on by our fingernails. I think the team can keep getting stronger and better. Again, we're going to face harder and harder competition week after week and we just have to have the confidence that we're capable of rising to whatever level that needs to be. We're in a good spot. Really happy with today but how could you not be? I'm just excited to see so many people contribute when they were called upon so that's the fun part."
The Mountain Hawks will travel for the remainder of the indoor season, following Saturday's home meet against Lafayette. Lehigh will head to New York City on Feb. 3-4 to compete at the Scarlet Knight Open at the Armory.
Follow Lehigh Cross Country/Track and Field on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
"We've had a good thing going for a long time so you just want to step in and be able to see that continue," said head coach Todd Etters. "For everyone on the team though, they treat the dual meet every year the same and it's the biggest meet that you can have in track and field to measure up against a team so we're proud of where we're at."
"I thought our throws crew really set the tone," Etters continued. "Once the field ended we had a pretty big lead on Lafayette and the track just went as well as we hoped. We had guys just step up and perform at a level that we expect to see them week in and week out. They just have to stay relaxed and as the competition gets more and more fierce and harder they have to step up and continue to be relaxed and confident in themselves and I think we'll see really good results."
The Mountain Hawks opened up their annual rivalry meet by winning five of the six field events. In the jumps, senior Ian Scott led the team with two first-place finishes. Scott won the long jump with a mark of 6.70m and went on to win the high jump with a mark of 1.92m. Lehigh went on to sweep both the long jump and high jump, with sophomore Gideon Coprivnicar (6.21m) and first-year Daniel Givens (6.07m) finishing second and third in the long jump and seniors Brittann Pierce (1.92m) and Eli Aaronson (1.87m) finishing second and third in the high jump.
Givens went on to earn his own first-place finish in the triple jump, winning the event with a mark of 13.01m. Lehigh also swept the triple jump, with sophomores Skyler Mott (12.99m) and Jordan Layos (12.55m) finishing second and third, respectively.
Lehigh's pole vaulters continued to shine as junior Conor Reilly and first-year Carter Bartz finished first and second, respectively. Reilly won the event with an IC4A qualifying mark of 4.83m to become fourth all-time in Lehigh history while Bartz finished with his own personal best of 4.68m to become ninth all-time.
The Mountain Hawks did not disappoint in the throws, adding five student-athletes to the top ten all-time list. Leading the way for Lehigh was sophomore Liam Lovering, who is now ranked third all-time in the shot put and fourth all-time in the weight throw. Lovering won the shot put with an IC4A qualifying mark of 16.62m and finished second in the weight throw with another IC4A qualifying mark of 17.45m.
"The nice thing with Liam is he's not alone," Etters said. "I know this sport can be so mental and so frustrating at times when things aren't clicking but when you see those guys, your teammates go out and they're putting big throws out there, I think that motivates everyone.
"Liam right now is putting the biggest throws out there so everyone who trains with him day in and day out I'm sure they're thinking, 'That can be me too,'" Etters continued. "That's what's cool about having an event group like that that's so deep. Coach Allison [Taub] is just doing everything right with them and she's really patient with them and disciplined with their training. I think they did a lot of bigger things in the weight room so they're stronger, they're faster and it's really showing in the results."
Senior Quinn Conlan, junior Achilles Mouzakis and sophomore Alex Clevenger all had solid performances that led to their names being added to Lehigh's all-time list. Conlan (16.58m) finished third overall in the weight while Mouzakis (16.57m) finished fourth. Clevenger finished second in the shot put with a mark of 16.16m.
While Lehigh dominated the field events, the team continued to shine on the track, winning nine events. Senior Connor Melko kicked things off for the Mountain Hawks in the mile, winning with an IC4A qualifying time of 4:14.42. Senior Jacob Martinez (4:!7.35) and first-year Dan Malatesta (4:18.45) followed suit, finishing second and third, respectively.
Following Melko's victory in the mile, Lehigh went on to sweep the next three track events. Junior Daniel Stipanov won the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.54 while Coprivnicar (8.91) and senior Vincent Polignano (9.01) followed with second and third-place finishes.
Senior Amondo Lemmon continued to improve, winning the 400m with a personal best of 51.32. Seniors Douglas Cooke and Jack Bush finished second and third overall with respective times of 52.58 and 53.54. Following the 400m, Lehigh went on to sweep the 500m with sophomore Patrez Thomas winning the event with a personal best of 1:08.04. First-year Noah Kim (1:08.59) and senior Thomas Leitner (1:09.03) finished second and third, respectively.
"We lost the 60m and the 200m but in both cases, we had two different guys diving across the finish line to try to win," said Etters. "I think that just shows that everyone feels like they want to carry their own weight for this team and contribute at a high level and we're willing to put it all out there to do that. They didn't get it done today in those events but with that kind of attitude is what they need to have to get it done so I'm excited about that."
The Mountain Hawks' middle distance and distance runners put up some solid times on the track following the sprints events. Leading the way was senior Kerem Ayhan who won the 800m with an IC4A qualifying time of 1:53.50. Ayhan, who broke the 1000m school record last Saturday, is now eighth all-time in the 800m.
Lehigh swept the 1000m with sophomore Aidan Lynch winning the event with a personal best of 2:30.45. Senior Joseph Cranley (2:30.51) and first-year Alex Heidemann (2:41.52) finished second and third, respectively. Senior Tyler French claimed one of Lehigh's final victories on the track, winning the 3000m with a time of 8:33.31.
With their ninth consecutive win over the Leopards secured, the Mountain Hawks continued to dominate on the track in the final two relay events. Lehigh's 4x400 relay team claimed the Mountain Hawks' second to last victory of the day. Thomas, Cooke, Ayhan and Lemmon competed in the relay, finishing with a time of 3:23.97.
In the final race of the day, Lehigh showed no signs of slowing down. Melko returned to the track with fellow senior Ryan Wycherley and first-years Henry Burd and Thomas Arnold to compete in the 4x800 relay. The four Mountain Hawks went on to win the last event of the day with a time of 8:04.23.
"It's exciting and it tells us we're in a really good place right now," Etters said. "The good thing is I don't feel like we're hanging on by our fingernails. I think the team can keep getting stronger and better. Again, we're going to face harder and harder competition week after week and we just have to have the confidence that we're capable of rising to whatever level that needs to be. We're in a good spot. Really happy with today but how could you not be? I'm just excited to see so many people contribute when they were called upon so that's the fun part."
The Mountain Hawks will travel for the remainder of the indoor season, following Saturday's home meet against Lafayette. Lehigh will head to New York City on Feb. 3-4 to compete at the Scarlet Knight Open at the Armory.
Follow Lehigh Cross Country/Track and Field on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
Players Mentioned
High Jump
/ Men's Track and Field
Distance
/ Men's Track and Field
Sprints
/ Men's Track and Field
Distance
/ Men's Track and Field
Sprints/Jumps
/ Men's Track and Field
Throws
/ Men's Track and Field
Throws
/ Men's Track and Field
Sprints/High Jump
/ Men's Track and Field
Multis
/ Men's Track and Field
Distance/Mid-Distance
/ Men's Track and Field
Distance
/ Men's Track and Field
Jumps
/ Men's Track and Field
Distance
/ Men's Track and Field
Mid-Distance
/ Men's Track and Field
Long Jump/Triple Jump
/ Men's Track and Field
Distance
/ Men's Track and Field
Sprints
/ Men's Track and Field
Throws
/ Men's Track and Field
Distance
/ Men's Track and Field
Distance
/ Men's Track and Field
Distance
/ Men's Track and Field
Distance
/ Men's Track and Field
Jumps
/ Men's Track and Field
Throws
/ Men's Track and Field
High Jump
/ Men's Track and Field
High Jump/Hurdles
/ Men's Track and Field
Pole Vault
/ Men's Track and Field
Jumps
/ Men's Track and Field
Hurdles/Sprints
/ Men's Track and Field
Hurdles/Sprints
/ Men's Track and Field
Sprint/Middle Distance
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