Posted: 01/12/2013
WEST POINT, N.Y. – The Lehigh men’s and women’s track and field teams finished fourth at the Army six-way meet on Saturday. The men scored 98.50 points, while the women tallied 111, each good for fourth place. The women were highlighted by seniors E’Lana Lemon and Julia Perry who won the weight throw (17.66m) and 1000m (2:57.56), while the men were paced by Derek Gaul’s first place distance in the long jump (6.84m).
"We trained hard this week and we’re tired, but that’s a good thing," said Lehigh head coach Matt Utesch. "We are going to continue to work and we’re going to keep coming along towards the championships."
For the men, Gaul’s jump of 6.84m was .06 meters ahead of the rest of the field and one of two Lehigh wins on the day. Gaul also finished ninth in the 60 meter dash in just his second collegiate meet of his career. The Mountain Hawks also took the eighth and ninth spots in the long jump as Patrick Ciez (6.47m) and Ryan Paquin (6.42m) claimed those places, respectively.
"He (Derek Gaul) does not surprise me because I knew he was that good and I’m very pleased to have him with us," said Utesch. "He has a lot left to show as well."
Ryan Mahalsky finished second in the 5000m run, crossing the line in 15:19.54 for one of the three second places finishes for the Brown and White.
Martin Otieno posted an impressive day for Lehigh, placing second in the 60 meter dash with a time of 7.01, finishing just .02 behind the winner from Monmouth. In the 200 meter dash, Otieno grabbed another second place finish (22.66) after crossing the line just .07 behind the winner from Monmouth. Devin Monroe was the third place finisher in the 200 meter dash, crossing the line just behind Otieno in 22.67.
"He (Otieno) is the workhorse and keeps coming back week after week and putting up good times," said Utesch. "He’s going to have a big impact at the league championships."
Junior Jimmy Miller continued the solid performance for Lehigh with a third place finish in the 3000 meter run as he finished in 8:33.07.
Senior Christopher Buck was the top performer for Lehigh in the weight throw, turning in a distance of 13.75m for a 13th place finish out of the field of 25 competitors. In the pole vault, freshman Tyler John was the top Mountain Hawk after posting a height of 4.20m for a sixth place finish.
Sophomore Adeolu Adesida posted a jump of 1.99m in the high jump which tied him with three other athletes, one from Army and two from Monmouth for first place in the event. Tying for fifth was Ciez after turning in a performance of 1.94m.
On the women’s side, senior Tori Berard placed second in the 5000m after turning in a time of 18:26.25, while junior Danielle Albergo took home a second place finish in the 400m dash after crossing the line in 59.32. Also putting together a solid performance in the 400m dash was sophomore Halie Carter, who finished sixth out of the field of 24 competitors.
In the 500m dash, sophomore Natalie Bates took second (1:20.28), finishing less than a second behind Rider athlete Madeline Hummel (1:20.28). Fellow sophomore Taryn Schmelzinger placed fourth in the 500m dash, while sophomore Babette Hohrath crossed the line right behind her in fifth (1:24.37).
Senior Khaaledah Smith ran the 60m dash in 8.11 which was good for fifth place out of the field of 14 runners. In the 800m run, senior Kathleen Ryan took fourth after crossing the line in 2:22.86.
The Mountain Hawks flourished in the 1000m run as Perry came away with the win, but four other Mountain Hawks finished in the top five of the event. Missing Perry’s mark by .21 was senior Lauren Pietrosh, running the event in 2:57.77, while senior Brittany Pietrosh crossed the line in 3:01.79 for fourth place. Rounding out the top five was sophomore Ingrid Simon, running the race in 3:04.64 for a fifth place finish.
"We had some pretty solid performances considering the rough week of practice," said head coach Matt Utesch. "The 1000m was a nice performance for us, scoring four of the top five places. Julia works extremely hard and makes something that is very difficult look easy. Lauren also put together a great race to get that close to Julia and that shows we have good depth."
Smith added to her day with a fourth place finish in the 200m dash with a time of 26.53, followed by Albergo in fifth (26.58).
Lemon’s throw of 17.66m was an ECAC qualifying mark and following her in the weight throw was junior Jimil Ataman with a fifth place finish out of the field of 27 athletes.
The Mountain Hawks scored 111 points on the day, finishing just 4.50 points behind third place Binghamton and 75 behind the winner of the event, Monmouth (186).
The Mountain Hawks will now host the Angry Birds at Lehigh next weekend with the action beginning at 10 a.m. inside Rauch Fieldhouse.
Men’s Results
1. Army (214)
2. Rider (150)
3. Monmouth (149.50)
4. Lehigh (98.50)
5. Binghamton (62)
6. Ramapo (15)
Women’s Results
1. Monmouth (186)
2. Rider (154.50)
3. Binghamton (115.50)
4. Lehigh (111)
5. Army (90)
6. Ramapo (21)