Saturday, February 25
Annapolis, Md.
Lehigh University
at
Patriot League Championship
Lehigh Readies for 2023 Indoor Track and Field Patriot League Championships
2/24/2023 3:00:00 PM | Men's Track and Field
BETHLEHEM, Pa. — The Lehigh men's track and field squad is set to compete at the 2023 Patriot League Indoor Track and Field Championships, hosted by Navy at the Wesley A. Brown Fieldhouse February 25-26.Â
"Our team has shown more and more balance as the season has progressed, noted head men's track and field coach, Tod Etters. "We don't just have a standout or two for the entire team, we have standouts in every event group.Â
Saturday will begin at 11 a.m. with the women's weight throw, men's pole vault and the 60-meter dash for the heptathlon. The first track event of the day will begin at 1 p.m. with the prelims for the men's 60-meter hurdles. Competition on Saturday will end at 6:35 p.m. with the women's 4x800-meter relay. Â
On Sunday, the women's shot put, men's high jump and the 60-meter hurdles for the heptathlon will kick things off at 11 a.m. with the men's mile being the first track event of the day at 12:10 p.m. The last event for the night will be the men's and women's 4x400-meter relay, followed by the awards ceremony set to begin at 4 p.m.
For the full schedule of events, click HERE. Track events for the 2022-23 Patriot League Indoor Track and Field Championships will be streamed on ESPN+. Field events during the championship will not be streamed, but up-to-date content featuring Patriot League multimedia journalist Maria Trivelpiece will be available by following @PatriotLeagueTV on Twitter.
The Mountain Hawks are looking for a balance between all event groups to contribute to the success of the program at this season's league championships.There are 25 marks or times and five relays that current members of the men's track and field program hold on the all-time top-10 list.Â
Throws
"In our throws, we will be relying on sophomore Liam Lovering to score in both of his events," commented Etters. "He will have a strong supporting staff and all of these guys really benefit from a lot of noise and energy. It will be up to the rest of the team to provide that environment while the throwing events are going on."
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Lovering currently sits in second in the shot put with a mark of 16.62 meters with junior Alex Clevenger a few spots behind with his toss of 16.19 meters. Three Mountain Hawks are in 10th-12th in the league rankings in the weight throw with Lovering in 10th with a throw of 17.45 meters. Senior Quinn Conlan and junior Achilles Mouzakis in 11th and 12th, with Conlan's mark of 16.58 meters and Mouzakis' throw of 16.57 meters.
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Mid-Distance / Distance
"The indoor championship meet requires a lot of talent and depth in the middle-distance and distance events because of the number of relays we contest," added Etters. "I am very excited about seniors Kerem Ayhan, Jake Martinez, and Brandtson Duffie because they are all returning league champions."
The distance medley relay team won gold at the 2022 Patriot League Indoor Championships and was made up of Duffie, Martinez, Ayhan and Kyle Burke, who finished with a time of 9:59.17.Â
The group of Thomas, Duffie, Lemmon and Ayhan produced a time of 3:18.62 in the 4x400-meter relay, which is fourth in the League and fifth-best in program history.
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Ayhan ranks sixth in the 800-meter and is within .76 seconds of the second-best time in the league. Martinez sits at 12th in the league with a time of 1:52.86 in the 800-meter run while Duffie ran a 1:54.46 in the 800-meter
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Etters continued, "Seniors Connor Melko and Tyler French are additional All-League performers from past years that we will be counting on."
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Melko sits fifth in the 3,000-meter and 16th in the mile heading into Championship weekend, while French ranks 12th in the league in the 5,000-meter and 21st in the 3,000-meter race.
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Jumps
"The jumps are led by senior Ian Scott, sophomore Skyler Mott, junior Connor Reilly, and first-year Carter Bartz," stated Etters, "But they are not the only ones in the jumps that are expected to fight for points."
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Scott, this past week's Patriot League Men's Field Athlete of the Week, won the triple jump last Friday in Lewisburg, Pa., with an IC4A qualifying mark of 14.73 meters, which is tops among Patriot League jumpers during the indoor season. The jump puts Scott fourth on Lehigh's all-time indoor triple jump list and the top spot in the Patriot League ranking heading into the weekend.
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Mott boasted a mark of 2.04 meters in the high jump earlier this season to be sitting seventh in the Patriot League and ranks eighth in the triple jump with a leap of 13.31 meters.
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Bartz was named the Patriot League's Men's Rookie of the Week for picking up his first collegiate victory, winning the pole vault by clearing 4.75 meters. The vault is tied for the eighth-best in the league this season and Bartz ranks seventh on Lehigh's top 10 list. Right ahead of Bartz in the league rankings is Reilly, who has a mark of 4.83 meters, which stands for the seventh best.
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Sprints
"Senior Amondo Lemmon and sophomore Patrez Thomas will lead our sprinters and I am not going to be surprised if I am talking about a few more names in this group by the end of the championship."
Â
Lemmon is the top member of the Brown and White in the 400-meter 19th in the league and 10th in program history with a time of 50:05, followed by Thomas in 21st at 50.40.
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In the 60-meter dash, senior John Siani sits 10th all-time in program history with a time of 7.06 seconds with first-year Niko Cruz and senior Andrew Roman posting career bests with times of 7.12 seconds and 7.14 seconds respectively.
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"Overall, we are going to be locked into a tight competition with Bucknell. We will need everyone on the roster to compete with a lot of toughness and confidence if we want to accomplish our goals. I love when the stakes are high and everything is on the line. There is no better time to be at our best than right now," concluded Etters.
Following the Patriot League Championships, the Mountain Hawks will prepare for the IC4A Championship, which will be held in Boston, Mass. on March 3-5.Â
"Our team has shown more and more balance as the season has progressed, noted head men's track and field coach, Tod Etters. "We don't just have a standout or two for the entire team, we have standouts in every event group.Â
Saturday will begin at 11 a.m. with the women's weight throw, men's pole vault and the 60-meter dash for the heptathlon. The first track event of the day will begin at 1 p.m. with the prelims for the men's 60-meter hurdles. Competition on Saturday will end at 6:35 p.m. with the women's 4x800-meter relay. Â
On Sunday, the women's shot put, men's high jump and the 60-meter hurdles for the heptathlon will kick things off at 11 a.m. with the men's mile being the first track event of the day at 12:10 p.m. The last event for the night will be the men's and women's 4x400-meter relay, followed by the awards ceremony set to begin at 4 p.m.
For the full schedule of events, click HERE. Track events for the 2022-23 Patriot League Indoor Track and Field Championships will be streamed on ESPN+. Field events during the championship will not be streamed, but up-to-date content featuring Patriot League multimedia journalist Maria Trivelpiece will be available by following @PatriotLeagueTV on Twitter.
The Mountain Hawks are looking for a balance between all event groups to contribute to the success of the program at this season's league championships.There are 25 marks or times and five relays that current members of the men's track and field program hold on the all-time top-10 list.Â
Throws
"In our throws, we will be relying on sophomore Liam Lovering to score in both of his events," commented Etters. "He will have a strong supporting staff and all of these guys really benefit from a lot of noise and energy. It will be up to the rest of the team to provide that environment while the throwing events are going on."
Â
Lovering currently sits in second in the shot put with a mark of 16.62 meters with junior Alex Clevenger a few spots behind with his toss of 16.19 meters. Three Mountain Hawks are in 10th-12th in the league rankings in the weight throw with Lovering in 10th with a throw of 17.45 meters. Senior Quinn Conlan and junior Achilles Mouzakis in 11th and 12th, with Conlan's mark of 16.58 meters and Mouzakis' throw of 16.57 meters.
Â
Mid-Distance / Distance
"The indoor championship meet requires a lot of talent and depth in the middle-distance and distance events because of the number of relays we contest," added Etters. "I am very excited about seniors Kerem Ayhan, Jake Martinez, and Brandtson Duffie because they are all returning league champions."
The distance medley relay team won gold at the 2022 Patriot League Indoor Championships and was made up of Duffie, Martinez, Ayhan and Kyle Burke, who finished with a time of 9:59.17.Â
The group of Thomas, Duffie, Lemmon and Ayhan produced a time of 3:18.62 in the 4x400-meter relay, which is fourth in the League and fifth-best in program history.
Â
Ayhan ranks sixth in the 800-meter and is within .76 seconds of the second-best time in the league. Martinez sits at 12th in the league with a time of 1:52.86 in the 800-meter run while Duffie ran a 1:54.46 in the 800-meter
Â
Etters continued, "Seniors Connor Melko and Tyler French are additional All-League performers from past years that we will be counting on."
Â
Melko sits fifth in the 3,000-meter and 16th in the mile heading into Championship weekend, while French ranks 12th in the league in the 5,000-meter and 21st in the 3,000-meter race.
Â
Jumps
"The jumps are led by senior Ian Scott, sophomore Skyler Mott, junior Connor Reilly, and first-year Carter Bartz," stated Etters, "But they are not the only ones in the jumps that are expected to fight for points."
Â
Scott, this past week's Patriot League Men's Field Athlete of the Week, won the triple jump last Friday in Lewisburg, Pa., with an IC4A qualifying mark of 14.73 meters, which is tops among Patriot League jumpers during the indoor season. The jump puts Scott fourth on Lehigh's all-time indoor triple jump list and the top spot in the Patriot League ranking heading into the weekend.
Â
Mott boasted a mark of 2.04 meters in the high jump earlier this season to be sitting seventh in the Patriot League and ranks eighth in the triple jump with a leap of 13.31 meters.
Â
Bartz was named the Patriot League's Men's Rookie of the Week for picking up his first collegiate victory, winning the pole vault by clearing 4.75 meters. The vault is tied for the eighth-best in the league this season and Bartz ranks seventh on Lehigh's top 10 list. Right ahead of Bartz in the league rankings is Reilly, who has a mark of 4.83 meters, which stands for the seventh best.
Â
Sprints
"Senior Amondo Lemmon and sophomore Patrez Thomas will lead our sprinters and I am not going to be surprised if I am talking about a few more names in this group by the end of the championship."
Â
Lemmon is the top member of the Brown and White in the 400-meter 19th in the league and 10th in program history with a time of 50:05, followed by Thomas in 21st at 50.40.
Â
In the 60-meter dash, senior John Siani sits 10th all-time in program history with a time of 7.06 seconds with first-year Niko Cruz and senior Andrew Roman posting career bests with times of 7.12 seconds and 7.14 seconds respectively.
Â
"Overall, we are going to be locked into a tight competition with Bucknell. We will need everyone on the roster to compete with a lot of toughness and confidence if we want to accomplish our goals. I love when the stakes are high and everything is on the line. There is no better time to be at our best than right now," concluded Etters.
Following the Patriot League Championships, the Mountain Hawks will prepare for the IC4A Championship, which will be held in Boston, Mass. on March 3-5.Â
Players Mentioned
Mid-Distance
/ Men's Track and Field
Distance
/ Men's Track and Field
Jumps
/ Men's Track and Field
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