Friday, August 29
Bethlehem, Pa.
6:00 PM
Lehigh University
vs
Lehigh Invitational
Photo by: Don Paul
Mountain Hawks Open Their Season at Lehigh Invitational
8/29/2025 10:46:00 PM | Men's Cross Country
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - The 2025 men's cross country season kicked off at Lehigh's very own Goodman Campus Cross Country Course on Friday evening with the Lehigh Invitational. The Mountain Hawks competed against the likes of Villanova, Saint Joseph's, DeSales, Moravian, and Patriot League rival Bucknell, and earned themselves fourth place. Despite Villanova having the top two runners, Saint Joseph's came away with its third straight Lehigh Invite title.
Junior Ryan Baker was the first Mountain Hawk to cross the finish line. His fifth place finish marked his second straight year in the top five in Lehigh's annual season opener, as he finished fourth last year. Despite finishing one spot lower, his time of 18:19.7 was only eight seconds away from a victory, and a 21 second improvement on his personal best in this distance.
"[Baker] looked fantastic," head coach Debbie Utesch noted. "He ran with that top pack from the gun and really looked calm and poised the whole race. I'm pretty excited to see what he's going to be able to do over 8,000 meters as he goes forward."
Sophomore Will Mrozinski finished second for Lehigh (25th overall) in a time of 18:45.9, which was a huge 52 second improvement from last year's season opener. Taking the last spot of Lehigh's top three was senior Max Leffler, who finished 30th with a time of 18:57.0. First-years Jacob Nedimyer (32nd, 18:58.4), Miles Brekhus (36th, 19:00.9), and Ryan Macom (41st, 19:09.0) all finished within 10 places and 11 seconds of each other in their first collegiate race.
"[The first-years] had really good, solid performances," said Utesch. "We challenged them to find a teammate to run with and kind of pack up a little bit to a certain point in the race, and I saw that unfold. I think they did a good job of executing that."
Lehigh will be back competing on the Goodman Campus in two weeks, when the Mountain Hawks face off against Lafayette in The Rivalry on Saturday, September 13th.
Junior Ryan Baker was the first Mountain Hawk to cross the finish line. His fifth place finish marked his second straight year in the top five in Lehigh's annual season opener, as he finished fourth last year. Despite finishing one spot lower, his time of 18:19.7 was only eight seconds away from a victory, and a 21 second improvement on his personal best in this distance.
"[Baker] looked fantastic," head coach Debbie Utesch noted. "He ran with that top pack from the gun and really looked calm and poised the whole race. I'm pretty excited to see what he's going to be able to do over 8,000 meters as he goes forward."
Sophomore Will Mrozinski finished second for Lehigh (25th overall) in a time of 18:45.9, which was a huge 52 second improvement from last year's season opener. Taking the last spot of Lehigh's top three was senior Max Leffler, who finished 30th with a time of 18:57.0. First-years Jacob Nedimyer (32nd, 18:58.4), Miles Brekhus (36th, 19:00.9), and Ryan Macom (41st, 19:09.0) all finished within 10 places and 11 seconds of each other in their first collegiate race.
"[The first-years] had really good, solid performances," said Utesch. "We challenged them to find a teammate to run with and kind of pack up a little bit to a certain point in the race, and I saw that unfold. I think they did a good job of executing that."
Lehigh will be back competing on the Goodman Campus in two weeks, when the Mountain Hawks face off against Lafayette in The Rivalry on Saturday, September 13th.
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
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