The 2025 season marks Debbie Utesch’s 29th year with the Lehigh cross country and track and field programs. She has served as the head women’s cross country coach since 1996, and also served as the head men’s coach until prior to the start of the 2008 season, when her former runner Todd Etters ’02 was appointed head coach of the men.

Utesch has coached two female national qualifiers in cross country, including Jen Schappert in 2005 and All-American Elizabeth Weiler in 2014. She has also earned one Patriot League Coach of the Year honor.

During the 2021 season, Utesch led the Mountain Hawks to a fifth-place finish at the Patriot League Championships. Lehigh finished 17th at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional and defeated rival Lafayette for the 16th consecutive time. While the Mountain Hawks succeeded on the cross country course, they continued to excel in the classroom. Lehigh was named USTFCCCA All-Academic Team and had 17 student-athletes named to the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll. Senior Kara Bonner was named Patriot League Sportsmanship Award winner for her leadership within the cross country and track and field programs.

Lehigh had its 2020 season pushed to the spring of 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Utesch led the Mountain Hawks to a sixth-place finish at the Patriot League Championship where Jamie Zamrin finished 12th overall to be named second team All-Patriot League. Lehigh went on to earn USTFCCCA All-Academic honors as well.

Lehigh took fifth place at the Patriot League Championship and 14th place at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional in 2019. Under Utesch’s guidance, Diana Hammerstone earned second team All-Patriot League honors with her ninth place finish at the championship.

Under Utesch’s guidance, Lehigh finished second at the Patriot League Championships in 2018. Utesch coached Diana Hammerstone, Jamie Zamrin, and Nicole Abbondanelo to All-Patriot League Second Team awards.

Lehigh took 17th place at the Paul Short Run and fourth at the Patriot League Championships in 2017, where junior Maura Henderson earned Second Team All-Patriot League honors. The team also obtained its first-ever perfect score against Lafayette in the annual dual meet with a 15-50 win. As the sprint/mid-distance coach on the track, Utesch continued a strong Lehigh steeplechase tradition by coaching Ashleigh Crawford and Stacie Nadel to a top-two sweep of the podium at the PL Outdoor Championships, in addition to coaching the outdoor 4x800 relay team to a third place finish. She coached two other relay teams to all-league performances at the PL Indoor Championships, including the league champion distance medley relay team and the second place 4x800 relay team.

Under Utesch’s guidance, Lehigh is coming off a solid 2016 campaign that saw the team finish runner-up at the Patriot League Championships. The team had three All-Patriot League recipients, including first teamer Maura Henderson who finished fifth overall at the league championships, and second team honorees Marissa Karl and Amanda Ruschel. Henderson also earned all-region honors as LU placed 11th at the Mid-Atlantic Regional meet. The Mountain Hawks were also strong academically, with Ruschel earning Academic All-Patriot League, Lehigh landing 15 of its student-athletes on the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll and earning the distinction of being named an All-Academic Team by the USTFCCCA.

In 2015, Utesch helped lead Lehigh to a seventh place finish at the Patriot League Championships and an appearance in the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regionals at Princeton. Under her guidance, 10 women’s cross country student-athletes were named to the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll and the team was named an All-Academic Team by the USTFCCCA.

Under Utesch’s guidance in 2014, the Mountain Hawks crowned their first-ever cross country All-American as Elizabeth Weiler finished 38th at the NCAA National Championship race. Lehigh finished sixth at the Patriot League Championship race and 13th at NCAA Regionals. In addition to success on the course, the Mountain Hawks were strong in the classroom as well, garnering APR Public Recognition and USTCCCA Academic honors.

Utesch led the Mountain Hawks to one of their most successful seasons during 2013, highlighted by a second place finish at the Patriot League Championships. Lehigh finished the race with four All-League runners and secured its best finish in the race since 2000. The Mountain Hawks then went on to place ninth at NCAA Regionals, just Lehigh's third ever top-ten finish. Strong in the classroom as well, Lehigh earned national recognition with an APR Public Recognition award and USTFCCCA Academic honors. Utesch mentored the 2013 Women’s Cross Country Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year Jennifer Markham as well as fellow Academic All-League member Rosie Roessel.

In 2012, Utesch led the Mountain Hawks to a fourth place finish at the Patriot League Championships. Three runners earned All-Patriot League honors with Julia Perry finishing fourth overall to earn a spot on the first team, while Ingrid Simon (11th) and Jessica Kendzor (14th) earned second team All-League honors. In addition to its best Patriot League Championships finish since 2008, Lehigh finished second in the Lehigh Invitational, won its dual meet with Lafayette and took 15th in the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional Qualifier. The women’s cross country team continued to have one of the top academic records at Lehigh, with 11 student-athletes named to the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll.

In 2011, Utesch's team placed 13 student-athletes on the Patriot League Academic Honor Roll. The Mountain Hawks placed 17th at Regionals and fifth at the Patriot League Championships. Utesch guided Lehigh to a stellar showing at the Paul Short Run where the Mountain Hawks placed 24th, their best showing since finishing 17th in 2008.

In 2008, Utesch guided the Mountain Hawk women to a No. 11 ranking in the Mid-Atlantic Region, their fourth consecutive victory over archrival Lafayette in the annual dual meet, a top-ten finish at the prestigious Iona Meet of Champions, and their second top-three finish at the Patriot League Championship in the past four seasons. Utesch also placed a pair of her student-athletes in Shannon Alejandro and Alexis Weiner on the All-Patriot League teams.

During the 2006 and 2007 seasons, Lehigh’s men’s and women’s programs were both ranked in the top-15 regionally and produced back-to-back top-20 finishes at the NCAA Mid-Atlantic Qualifying race. During that time, Utesch mentored three All-Patriot League selections, one All-Region selection and the 2006 Patriot League Rookie of the Year (Lehigh’s first-ever).

In 2005, Utesch had one of her most successful seasons, as both the Lehigh men and women finished the season ranked within the top-ten of the Mid-Atlantic Region, and produced top-ten finishes at the Iona Meet of Champions, as well as third (women) and fourth (men) place finishes at the Patriot League Championships. Four Mountain Hawks were named to the All-League teams, including Jen Schappert, who finished second overall for the second consecutive season. Schappert then went onto earn her second straight All-Region and Academic All-American honors. To top it off, Schappert became the first runner in school history to qualify for the NCAA National Championships.

In 2004, Utesch led the men to a number-eight ranking in the Mid-Atlantic Region; the highest ever in her reign at Lehigh, as the Mountain Hawks finished in the top-ten of every race they ran in, except the nationally known Paul Short Run, where they placed 11th. The men placed fourth and the women sixth at the 2004 Patriot League Championships, while three Lehigh runners were named to the All-Patriot League teams.

After leading the Mountain Hawks to a runner-up finish in 2000, Utesch was named the Patriot League Women’s Cross Country Coach of the Year in 2000 after leading the squad to a runner-up finish at the league championships. Utesch's 1999 men's team finished third at the Patriot League Championships, the highest during her tenure.

The success of Utesch’s teams does not stop on the trail or track however, as evidenced by the men’s cross country team earning USTFCCCA Academic All-American Team honors six times while she was the head coach, and the women earning the same distinction five consecutive years. In addition, Schappert was named the 2006 Patriot League Women’s Cross Country Scholar Athlete of the Year as well as an Academic All-American.

Utesch came to Lehigh after serving as associate head cross country coach and assistant track coach at Millersville University from 1994-96. During her tenure there, she coached nationally ranked Division II track and cross-country teams. The Millersville men’s track & field team earned a ranking as high as 13th in 1996 while the women’s track and field team ranked 18th that same year.

As assistant track coach, Utesch helped coach a total of five All-Americans, whose events ranged from the 3000 meters to the triple jump. In 1996, the Millersville women’s track and field team won the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference title. Utesch was also named to the ECAC and Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) games committees during her time at Millersville.

Utesch earned her bachelor of science degree in business administration from the University of Rhode Island in 1988, where she was a member of both the cross country and track teams. She earned her M.B.A. from St. Francis College (Pa.) in 2000.

Utesch and her husband Matt reside in Bethlehem with their daughter Sydney and son Tyson.

Lehigh University Athletics

Upcoming Event: Men's Cross Country versus NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional on November 14, 2025 at TBA

Upcoming Event: Men's Cross Country at NCAA Championships on November 22, 2025 at TBA

Completed Event: Men's Cross Country versus Patriot League Championships on October 31, 2025 , , 8th of 10

Completed Event: Men's Cross Country at Haverford Invitational on October 24, 2025 , , 1st of 7

Completed Event: Men's Cross Country at Princeton Fall Classic on October 17, 2025 , , 28th of 31

Completed Event: Men's Cross Country versus Paul Short Run on October 3, 2025 , , 29th of 40

Completed Event: Men's Cross Country at Haverford Main Line Invitational on September 19, 2025 , , 7th of 11

Completed Event: Men's Cross Country versus Lafayette College on September 13, 2025 , Win , 19, to, 41

Completed Event: Men's Cross Country versus Lehigh Invitational on August 29, 2025 , , 4th of 6

2005 Men's Cross Country Roster

Daniel DeWitt

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