Posted: 05/05/2012
WORCESTER, Mass. - For the second year in a row, the Lehigh women’s track and field team placed third while the men’s team again finished fourth at the Patriot League Outdoor Championships. The Mountain Hawks had some stellar performances on the final day, highlighted by two women’s Patriot League Champions while the men had three second place finishes.
"I am pretty happy with how things went," said head coach Matt Utesch. "I am pleased overall; we put up a lot of points and had some outstanding performances across the board in almost every event."
The women’s squad finished with 118 points, just 15.5 points behind Bucknell in second place while Navy took first with 156.50 points. Lehigh finished ahead of Army (83), Lafayette (79), Holy Cross (55), Colgate (51) and American (6).
Brooke Astor won the heptathlon with 4,749 points, crushing the previous Patriot League Outdoor Championships record of 4,525. Natalie Bates hit a personal record in every event but the 800m as she finished fifth in the event with 4,214 points as the duo earned Lehigh 12 points.
The 4x100m relay team of Khaaleedah Smith, Melissa Knapp, Alexandra Doersam and Kristin Slotnick won the event with a time of 46.98, setting a new Lehigh school record. The team surpassed the previous record of 47.64 set in 2011 and their time was just 0.06 seconds off the league Outdoor Championships record time.
Astor also placed fourth in the 100m hurdles with a time of 14.61 while Serenah Polite finished the event in sixth with a time of 15.42.
Polite also placed second in the women’s triple jump with a distance of 11.40m to earn the Mountain Hawks eight points.
The 4x400m relay team of Danielle Albergo, Smith, Jessica Kendzor and Slotnick placed second with a time of 3:48.95, just 0.09 seconds behind first.
Kendzor also took second in the 800m run with a time of 2:09.48.
Albergo took third in the 400m dash with a time of 57.01.
Julia Perry placed third in the 1500m run with a time of 4:30.70 to also earn Lehigh six points.
In the 5000m run, the Mountain Hawks scored five points as Savanna Plombon placed fourth with a time of 17:20.74 while Katherine Pierce was sixth with a time of 17:28.41.
Hannah Pierce picked up a couple more points for Lehigh in the 3000m steeplechase as she placed fifth with a time of 11:10.92.
Rebecca Duhamel finished sixth in the shot put with a distance of 12.42m.
On the men’s side, Lehigh finished with 98 points behind Army in third (149), Navy in second (153) and Bucknell (167) which was crowned the champion. After the Mountain Hawks, Lafayette was fifth (72), Colgate sixth (20), American seventh (12) and Holy Cross eighth (10).
In the decathlon, Lehigh took the two through four spots for 18 points. Forrest led the way with 6,531 points and a second place finish. His points were the second most in Patriot League Outdoor Championships history. Behind Forrest, Alexander Maurer was third with 6,285 points while Ryan Paquin placed fourth with 6,220 points.
Lehigh also took second in the 3000m steeplechase where Evans Kosgei finished with a time of 9:05.73 and Lyle O’Brien placed third with a time of 9:11.94. Kosgei also finished fourth in the 5000m run with a time of 14:34.97 while Tyler Mueller finished fifth with a time of 14:42.28.
The Mountain Hawks’ third second place came in the 400m hurdles where Seth Robinson finished with a time of 53.40, just 0.32 away from first. Robinson also placed fifth in the 110m hurdles with a time of 14.96.
Lehigh took the third and fourth spots in the 400m dash. Devin Monroe crossed the finish line with a time of 48.45 while Justin Mahoney finished just 0.02 behind him.
Stephen Rumizen took third in the high jump with 2.09m to earn six points for the Mountian hawks while Adeolu Adesida was sixth (1.99m) in the event for one point.
Martin Otieno was fifth in the 100m dash with a time of 10.91.
Monroe finished fifth in the 200m dash with time of 21.94 while Otieno placed right behind him in sixth with a time of 22.14.
Lehigh’s 4x100m relay team of Ifeanyi Edochie, Monroe, Otieno and Ryan Paquin took fourth with a time of 41.91.
Both squads will next head to Princeton, N.J. to compete in the ECAC/IC4A Championships on May 11-12.