Posted: 10/12/2012 | Last updated: October 12, 2012 at 09:27 AM
BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh women’s cross country team will travel to Princeton, N.J. to compete in the Princeton Invitational this Saturday. The event will be the first for the Mountain Hawks since the Paul Short Run on Sept. 28 and will be the first time they travel away from the Goodman Campus Course this season. This will be the final tune-up before the Mountain Hawks compete at the Patriot League Championships in Hamilton, N.Y. on Saturday, October 27.
At the Paul Short Run, Lehigh finished 30th out of 40 competing teams. Senior Julia Perry posted the top time for the Mountain Hawks at 22:37, which was good enough for 146th place out of 360 finishers. Junior Hannah Pierce finished just behind Perry at 22:47, as she crossed the line in 162nd place.
Sophomore Ingrid Simon (22:53) placed 173rd, while junior Jessica Kendzor (22:53) finished 175th. Freshman Jennifer Markham placed 184th (23:00) and seniors Amanda Gosselin (23:04) and Victoria Berard (23:05) finished in 189th and 191st, respectively, to round out Lehigh’s scoring runners.
Prior to the Paul Short Run, the Mountain Hawks defeated Lafayette in a head-to-head race 17-46 and also finished second out of nine competing teams in the Lehigh Invitational. Perry won the Lehigh-Lafayette dual meet in her first career collegiate cross country race, finishing in 22:35. Perry is in her first season as a member of the cross country team after setting three individual records as track performer this past spring.
The Princeton Invitational will begin at 10 a.m. and features 15 competing teams. Lehigh is the only Patriot League squad that is represented in the meet. The women are now ranked 15th in the latest U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Mid-Atlantic Regional poll, following a second place finish at the Lehigh Invitational, a win against Lafayette in a dual meet and their performance in the Paul Short Run. The Princeton Invitational will be the final tune-up for Lehigh before it competes at the Patriot League Championships, hosted by Colgate in Hamilton, N.Y. later in the month.
Although no other Patriot Leagues will be present at the Princeton Invitational, the Mountain Hawks will face a competitive field as several other regionally-ranked teams will be in attendance.
Following the Princeton Invitational, Lehigh will have two weeks off before competing in the Patriot League Championship, which will be hosted by Colgate in Hamilton, N.Y. on October 27.