Saturday, September 19
Easton, Pa.
10:45 a.m.

Lehigh University

19
at
44

Lafayette

Shannon Wright

Wright Leads Lehigh Over Lafayette in Dual Meet

9/19/2015 4:41:00 PM | Women's Cross Country

Complete Results (PDF)
Click here for more on the history of the Lehigh-Lafayette rivalry

EASTON, Pa. – The Lehigh women's cross country team captured their 11th consecutive victory over rival Lafayette on Saturday morning at the annual Lehigh-Lafayette dual meet. The 6K race saw Lehigh finish all 11 of its runners in the top 12, led by grad student Shannon Wright, who picked up the first individual title of her career.
 
Wright won the race with a time of 23:21.8, finishing nearly 13 seconds ahead of Lafayette's Stephanie Benko. From there, spots three-through-twelve all belonged to the Mountain Hawks with senior Arielle Weiner crossing the finish line third in 23:40.1, junior Ashley Strysko placing fourth (23:43.4) and  junior Marissa Karl rounding out the top five in 23:48.1.
 
Freshman Ashleigh Thurston picked up her first collegiate top-seven finish, placing sixth overall with a time of 23:56.1. Sophomore Laura Barnes placed just behind her in seventh, completing the race in 24:08.9, while junior Amanda Ruschel rounded out the Mountain Hawks' top seven competitors with an eighth place finish of 24:30.2.
 
"It's a much hillier course," said head coach Debbie Utesch. "I thought the women did a good job of working together and packing up through most of the race and competing with Benko, before getting a little separated over the last 1,000 meters."
 
Sophomore Hannah Leskow completed the race in ninth place overall in 24:37.7, and freshman Stephanie Hayes added her second top-10 finish in as many meets to begin her collegiate career with a 10th-place time of 24:47.4.
 
"With our upcoming meets being on faster courses, our next challenge is getting out faster while still holding onto teammates throughout the bigger races," Utesch added. "It's a nice place to build from there."
 
The Lehigh women will return to the Goodman Campus Cross Country Course in two weeks on Friday, Oct. 2 when the University will host the 42nd Annual Paul Short Run.
 
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