Men’s cross country wins 13th straight dual over Lafayette
Posted: 09/23/2011
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh men’s cross country team swept Lafayette 15-50 on Friday as the Mountain Hawks took the top eight spots. Lehigh was led by Sam Bernitt who placed first with a time of 26:30.3 while Evan Flach, Evans Kosgei, Tyler Mueller, Jimmy Miller, Lyle O’Brien, Casey Gilboy and Ryan Mahalsky followed in second through eighth, respectively. Lehigh has now defeated rival Lafayette in 13 straight dual races.
"I’m really proud of the guys, this is what we wanted to do and that’s come out and try to sweep them," said head coach Todd Etters. "I thought we did a great job of executing that. It goes to show how deep we are that we can have a pack of five within a second of each other."
Lafayette placed its first runner in ninth place, Zach Lizmi with a time of 26:59.2.
"Anytime it’s a Lehigh-Lafyette dual meet, there is no hiding," said Etters. "It’s man vs. man so anytime you can go out and do that well against your rival it shows a lot about the heart and commitment we have and we are ready for bigger things."
Lehigh will return to its home course Friday, September 30th for the 38th-annual Brooks-Paul Short Run. The all-day event will open with collegiate races throughout the morning and high school competitions in the afternoon. Over 170 colleges are scheduled to compete including some of the top nationally ranked programs.
"We have to figure out where we match up and then execute like we did today," said Etters. "We want to run a nice solid pack all the way through the race. I think Evans is capable of a top 20 finish at a meet like Paul Short so he has to step up but I think our other guys are right there and ready for that type of competition."