Lehigh Competes at Penn Relays and Commands the Covert Classic

Thursday, April 23

Philadelphia, PA

Lehigh University

Penn Relays

Photo by: Don Paul

Lehigh Competes at Penn Relays and Commands the Covert Classic

4/25/2026 6:15:00 PM | Men's Track and Field

BETHLEHEM, Pa./PHILADELPHIA - Lehigh men's track and field had an eventful weekend with two high profile meets on the schedule. The Mountain Hawks competed at the historic Penn Relays Thursday through Saturday, and hosted the Carol & John Covert Classic at the Goodman Campus Track & Field Complex on Friday and Saturday.

Penn Relays
Ryan Baker kicked off the action in Philadelphia as the only Lehigh athlete on Thursday evening. The junior placed 57th in the 5000 meters, running 14:48.84.

The relays got underway on Friday with a 12th place finish in the distance medley relay. Lehigh ran 9:57.83, with the relay consisting of Ian Zalewski, Peter Priestner, Aidan LaTourette, and Dan Malatesta. The Mountain Hawks placed 10th in the 4x400 meter relay. The team of Nick Bressi, Logan Haverkamp, Aiden DiBuono, and Peter Priestner ran 3:20.75. The 4x100 meter team qualified for the Eastern section final. Bressi, Cole Swick, Jaden Ferguson, and Eddie Moore won bronze, finishing in 41.83.

Will Jaques competed in the javelin throw on Saturday afternoon. He threw 52.48 meters, placing him 12th.

Covert Classic
Hammer and javelin throw opened the action in Bethlehem. All four Lehigh throwers placed in the top five in the javelin throw. Wil Jaques threw a season's best 65.87 meters to win. He now ranks 61st in Division I in the event. Gavin Chamberlain was the runner-up, throwing a personal record 57.26 meters. Aaron Lee took fourth, launching the spear 52.20 meters. Jack Wolf threw a personal record 52.02 meters to place fifth. The Mountain Hawks had two throwers place in the top seven in the hammer throw, both of which setting new personal records. Christian Saparata raised his personal best to 55.28 meters as the runner-up of the event. That mark moved him up to fifth all time for Lehigh. Josh Porter improved his personal best to 47.40 meters, placing him seventh

Joe Nowakowski set an outdoor personal record to win the shot put to start competition on Saturday. The senior threw 16.40 meters, improving his mark as sixth on Lehigh's all-time outdoor performance list. Nowakowski also threw the discus later in the day. He placed third overall, tossing the disc 43.27 meters. Adam Klinge placed sixth with a 40.43 meter throw.

All three Lehigh long jumpers placed in the top five. Konstantinos Panagopoulos won the event, jumping 6.64 meters. Jacob Chernin jumped a new personal best. The sophomore cleared 6.32 meters to place fourth. Daniel Givens placed fifth, jumping 6.28 meters. Givens and Chernin both made the podium in the triple jump. Givens jumped 13.91 meters to finish as the runner-up, and Chernin set a new personal record of 13.42 meters to earn third.

Lehigh took three of the top four spots in the 3000m steeplechase. Derek Coceano won the event, running 9:31.95 to gap the field by 14 seconds. Jacob Nedimyer finished third, crossing the line at 9:50.77 to lower his personal record by 12 seconds. Garrett Hyneman finished fourth in his steeple debut, clocking 9:54.11.

Seven Mountain Hawks ran their way into the top 10 of the 1500 meters. Charlie Butler broke the four-minute mark for the first time to finish as the runner-up. The sophomore ran 3:58.38. Isaac Green, Ryan Macom, and Danny Walter were the next three finishers. Greene ran 4:00.25 to finish third, Macom set a personal record to place fourth, and Walter placed fifth at 4:02.83. Max Leffler and Will Mrozinski each set personal records as the next two finishers. Leffler ran 4:03.65 to finish sixth, and Mrozinski won his heat in 4:06.05 to place seventh. Henry Burd was Lehigh's final top 10 finisher. The senior demolished his heat, crossing the line at 4:08.75.

The distance success continued into the 5000 meter run, as Lehigh swept the top five. Noah Zahn won the event by 12 seconds, crossing the line at 15:13.74. First-years Sawyer Macy and Evan Weber rounded out the podium finishers. Macy was the runner-up in 15:25.38, and Weber took third in a personal best 15:27.03. Dylan Cunningham ran 15:50.29 to place fourth, and Jared Weiss placed fifth to place 15:54.98 in his season debut.

In the 800 meter run, four Mountain Hawks finished in the top six. Aidan LaTourette won the event in 1:54.76, gapping the field by almost two seconds. Mekhi Britt finished fourth, running 1:57.07. Connor Malinger and Ben Connell were next, running the fastest 800 meter times of their careers. Malinger placed fifth, running 1:57.09, a one second improvement on his personal best. Connell ran 1:57.29 in his college 800 meter debut, crossing the line at 1:57.29.

Aiden DiBuono won the 400 meter hurdles, clocking 56.51 meters. Griffin Niemann ran a personal best to finish fifth. The sophomore finished in 1:01.67.

Nathan Oliphant finished as the runner-up in the 110 meter hurdles. The junior crossed the line at 15.01.

Logan Haverkamp and Austin Iburg ran season's bests in the 400 meter to both place within the top six. Haverkamp finished fourth in 50.46, and Iburg ran 50.89 to place sixth. Haverkamp and Iburg also earned top spots in the 200 meter dash. Haverkamp ran 23.20 to finish third, and Iburg placed fourth with 23.37. Nate Janukowicz was Lehigh's top runner in the event. He ran 23.10 as the runner-up in his debut meet.

Sayyidakbar Akbarov and Tyson Utesch both earned top five placements in the pole vault. Akbarov placed third with a 4.75 meter jump. This was an outdoor personal best and it tied his all-time personal best. Utesch earned fifth, setting a season's best of 4.30 meters.

Lehigh competes next in their annual dual meet against Lafayette. The Rivalry, presented by Lehigh Valley Orthopedic Institute, part of Jefferson Health will take place Saturday, May 2.