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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh men’s basketball team plays host to Army West Point for the second and final game of the regular season series. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 pm inside Stabler Arena for Salute to Service night, presented by Weis Markets.

Lehigh (13-8, 8-2 PL) extended his winning streak to eight games with a 66-55 victory over Boston University on Sunday afternoon, matching the longest win streak since 2018. Four Mountain Hawks finished in double figures and combined for 55 of Lehigh’s 66 points. Sophomore Keith Higgins Jr. led all scorers with 19 points and added four rebounds and one steal. Both senior Evan Taylor and sophomore Tyler Whitney-Sidney finished with 13 points apiece. Whitney-Sidney ended with six boards, an assist and a steal while Taylor had five rebounds, three of them being offensive. Rounding out the double-digit scorers was junior Jalin Sinclair, who finished with 10 points and a team-high three assists with two rebounds. These four Mountain Hawks were perfect from the free-throw line, finishing a clean 18-for-18 at the charity stripe.

Taylor, Higgins Jr. and Tyler Whitney-Sidney are averaging 13-plus points for the Mountain Hawks. Taylor recently reached 1,000 career points and is contributing 14.7 points with 6.4 rebounds per contest. Higgins Jr. averages 14.3 points per game and 1.9 assists per contest, while Whitney-Sidney is scoring 13.3 points per outing, and a team-leading 30 steals and 2.2 assists per game, along with 4.8 rebounds.

Army West Point (12-11, 6-4 PL) enters Wednesday’s game coming off a home win over Holy Cross (66-55) inside Christl Arena on Saturday afternoon. Army opened league play by taking down the Mountain Hawks (80-78) which started a three-game win streak before falling to Colgate (77-75). The Black Knights were on a three-game losing streak, falling to Bucknell (68-66), Navy (77-71) and American (63-61) before rebounding with a win over Holy Cross.

Jalen Rucker leads Army in points per game (15.9), assists (80) and steals (21). Ethan Roberts is contributing 12.1 points per game followed by Coleton Benson with 11.2 points per contest and leads the squad in three-pointers with 47. Chris Mann rounds out the double-digit scorers with 10.4 points

Army leads the series 68-48 and defeated the Mountain Hawks 80-78 in their last meeting on Dec. 30, which snapped Lehigh’s three-game win streak. Lehigh has claimed the last two meetings inside Stabler Arena, the recent one coming in the Patriot League Quarterfinal where the Mountain Hawks came out on top, 91-77.

On Saturday afternoon, the Mountain Hawks look to sweep rival Lafayette inside Kirby Sports Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 pm and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and Fox Sports Radio 94.7 FM and 1230 AM.

Like Lehigh Men’s Basketball on Facebookfollow on Twitter other Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more. Single-game tickets are on sale HERE.

One way for Lehigh wrestling fans to look at this week’s NWCA coaches poll is that the Mountain Hawks are ranked 26th.

The other way would be to say Lehigh has dropped out of the top 25.

The Mountain Hawks (6-9) are the top “receiving votes” team after losses over the weekend to Columbia (18-17) and now-No. 19 Arizona State (20-16). Lehigh was ranked No. 21 in last week’s poll.

Lehigh will be back in action Saturday (2 pm) when EIWA rival Army visits Grace Hall.

Penn State, after its 23-14 defeat of Iowa Friday, is now an unanimous No. 1.

Penn moved into the top 25 at No. 25 to give the EIWA two top-25 teams with Cornell at No. 5.

NWCA poll for Jan 31

In order from left: ranking, team (first place votes), (record), poll points, last week

1 Penn State (14) (11-0) 350 1st

2nd Iowa (12-1) 336 2nd

3. Iowa State (12-2) 313 4th

4 Ohio State (9-1) 304 6

5 Cornell (9-2) 290 5

6 Michigan (9-2) 285 3

7 NC State (11-1) 259 8

8 Missouri (6-2) 243 9

9 Virginia Tech (7-3) 242 7

10 Nebraska (7-3) 220 11

11 Oklahoma State (9-2) 208 10

12 Minnesota (11-2) 194 12

13 Northwestern (5-2) 191 14

14Northern Iowa (5-3) 148 15

15Wisconsin (7-7) 146 13

16 North Dakota State (8-2) 136 16

17 South Dakota State (11-2) 133 18

18 Pittsburgh (8-2) 113 24

19 Arizona State (4-4) 98 17

20 Appalachian States (7-2) 62 19

21 Illinois (5-5) 57 20

22. Indiana (7-2) 45 25

23 Rutgers (9-5) 33 23

24 Michigan State (8-5) 30 22

25. Penn (6-4) 26 NO

Others Receiving Votes: LEHIGH 23, West Virginia 22, Northern Colorado 14, Cal Poly 8, Air Force 5, Stanford 5, Oregon State 4, Columbia 3, Maryland 3, North Carolina 1.

Methodology: The NWCA Division I Wrestling Coaches Poll is voted on by two coaches from each Division I wrestling conference. Each first-place vote is worth 25 points, 24 points for a second-place vote, 23 for a third-place vote and so on through to one point for a 25th-place vote. The poll is based on dual meet results.

Thank you for relying on us to provide the journalism you can trust. Please consider supporting lehighvalleylive.com with a subscription.

Brad Wilson may be reached at bwilson@lehighvalleylive.com.

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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – With just over two weeks until the Mountain Hawks open the 2023 season, the Lehigh baseball team has been picked to finish third in the Patriot League preseason poll with four Mountain Hawks named to the All-Patriot League Team. Fifth-year left-handed pitcher Luke Rettig was selected as the Patriot League Preseason Pitcher of the Year and fifth-year outfielder Casey Rother was named Patriot League Preseason Player of the Year.

Along with Rettig and Rother, junior second baseman Riley Davis and sophomore catcher Justin Butler were all named to the All-Patriot League Team.

“It’s an honor to have four players named to the preseason all-league team,” stated the Peter E. Bennett ’63 Head Baseball Coach Sean Leary. “It demonstrates the respect our program has built from its peers.”

Rettig is a two-time All-Patriot League selection and garnered first-team accolades in 2022. He led Patriot League starting pitchers with an ERA of 2.40 while tying for the lead in wins with eight in his 13 starts. The southpaw struck out 71 batters in 71.1 innings of work, threw two complete games, and held his opponents to a .233 batting average.

“Luke (Rettig) is an established front-line arm in the Patriot League and having him lead our rotation gives our team the confidence that we can compete with the other elite arms in the league,” said Leary. “Luke’s experience in big games and the playoffs will the talented younger arms in our rotation.”

A two-time Patriot League Player of the Year and a two-time first team all-league honoree, Rother returns to the Mountain Hawks lineup after starting in all 50 games for the Brown and White a season ago. Last season he led the League in six offensive categories, including batting average (.371), slugging percentage (.613), hits (72), doubles (18), total bases (119) and RBIs (48), while finishing second with nine home runs. Not only did he produce at the plate, but Rother also made nine relief appearances on the mound, compiling a 1.32 ERA with two saves in 13.2 innings pitched.

“Casey (Rother) is a two-time MVP, so naturally we are really excited to have him back to lead our offense this spring,” noted Leary. “Casey’s presence in our lineup is impactful but, he knows and believes that his teammates’ will be the key to his and our team’s success this spring.”

Both Butler and Davis have earned preseason all-league honors for the first time in their careers. Butler started and appeared in 22 games and produced a .300 batting average to go with 20 RBIs, eight doubles and seven home runs. Defensively, Butler was credited with 47 putouts and seven assists. Davis finished his sophomore campaign hitting .298 on the season while starting in 44 of the 45 games he played in. He recorded 45 hits, 13 doubles, a triple and two home runs for 22 RBIs. Davis made 117 assists and 56 putouts in the field, along with 19 double plays.

Leary concluded, “The team has a singular focus and we’ll need this group and many others to achieve our objectives.”

Lehigh kicks off the 2023 season with a three-game series on the road in Florida at Bethune-Cookman Feb. 17-19.

Like Lehigh Baseball on Facebookfollow on Twitter other Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.

2023 Patriot League Baseball Preseason Poll

1. Army West Point, 49, (9 first-place votes)
2.Bucknell, 40, (2)
3. Lehigh, 37, (1)

4th Navy, 25th
5.Holy Cross, 19
6. Lafayette, 10

2023 Patriot League Baseball Preseason Major Awards
Preseason Player of the Year: Casey Rother, Lehigh, 5th., OF/RP
Preseason Pitcher of the Year: Luke Rettig, Lehigh, 5th., LHP

Preseason Defensive Player of the Year: Kevin Dubrule, Army West Point, Sr., SS

2023 Preseason All-Patriot League Baseball Team*
SP: Luke Rettig, Lehigh, 5th

SP: Will Greer, Bucknell, Sr.
RP: Luke Fox, Holy Cross, Sr.
C: Derek Berg, Army West Point, Jr.
C: Justin Butler, Lehigh, So.

1B: Ross Friedrick, Army West Point, Sr.
2B: Riley Davis, Lehigh, Jr.

SS: Kevin Dubrule, Army West Point, Sr.
3B: Sam Ruta, Army West Point, Jr.
OV: Grant Voytovich, Bucknell, Jr.
OV: Pete Ciuffreda, Lafayette, Sr.
OV: Casey Rother, Lehigh, 5th

At-Large: Sean Scanlon, Holy Cross, So.

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LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Lehigh women’s swimming and diving team was back in Lewisburg, this time competing in the Bison Invite Saturday afternoon at Kinney Natatorium. The Mountain Hawks came in third out of six teams, tallying 480 points.

Lehigh won four events, with Sarah Hardy leading the way, despite not competing in some of her usual events. She had an incredible meet, taking home two-first place finishes. Hardy won the 500-yard freestyle in 5:04:19 and then picked up 20 more points in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 2:01.69.

Lehigh dominated the 200-yard backstroke. Four Mountain Hawks finished in the top four. Behind Hardy was Willa Werwaiss (2:09.93), Monica Wintermute (2:05.73), and Hallie Wilson followed that with 2:08:56.

Wintermute also won the 100-yard freestyle. She finishes in first at 53:48.

Hardy also competed in the 200-yard freestyle relay, coming in second with Noel Fresa, Mairin Ludwig and Dagny Donaldson. They finished two seconds behind American.

Ludwig also competed in the 1650-yard freestyle, recording 17 points with a second-place finish (17:50.52). Donaldson was third in the 1650 (17:54.07).

Ludwig picked up 15 more points in the 400-yard IM, which her teammate Danielle Prekop ended up winning in 4:29.06.

Werwaiss came in second in the 500-yard freestyle as well, picking up 17 points with a time of 5:07.65.

Wilson picked up 15 points with a third-place finish in her only other event on Saturday. She came in third in the 100-yard backstroke (59.39).

Natalie Martin had a strong performance in the 200-yard butterfly, scoring 17 points with a time of 2:08.71.

Lehigh will have a little over a week and a half off before its next competition when the Mountain Hawks head back to Lewisburg for the Patriot League Championships, which starts Feb. 15 and will conclude on Feb. 18.

Like Lehigh Swimming and Diving on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.

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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Wrestling at Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall for the first time in more than two months, a sellout crowd of 1,855 saw No. 21 Lehigh fall 20-16 to no. 17 Arizona State Saturday night. The visiting Sun Devils claimed six bouts overall including two key early decisions to hand the Mountain Hawks their second straight setback.

Graduate student Tate Samuelson and sophomore Michael Beard led the way for Lehigh with bonus point wins, but the Mountain Hawks fall to 6-9 on the dual season after coming up four points short against the Sun Devils.

The dual began at 165 with Arizona State’s Tony Negron winning a 6-2 decision over sophomore Luca Frinzi. At 174, sophomore Jake Logan went to overtime for the second straight night and again came up on the short end in sudden victory, falling 8-6 to Cael Valencia. Logan erased a 4-2 first period deficit with a second period takedown and third period reversal, but it was Valencia winning a scramble in sudden victory to secure the winning takedown.

“We knew it would come down to some of those early matches,” Lehigh head coach Pat Santoro said. “It was tough because we need to win those. I don’t know how many matches we’ve lost in one-match swings. We have to fight through it because that’s what you have to do in the postseason.”

After being put on his back in a headlock for two and two early on, Samuelson battled back to dominate Shay Addison in a 16-7 major decision. Samuelson rallied to lead 6-5 after one period and added three more takedowns plus a two-point near fall and more than four minutes of advantage time.

Beard followed with his first fall in a Lehigh singlet, building a 10-0 first period lead on Damion Schunke before securing the pin at 2:35. The fall put Lehigh up 10-6 after four bouts.

First-year Nathan Taylor battled No. 6 Cohlton Schultz, a returning NCAA finalist at 285. The match was tied 1-1 early in the third period when Schultz scored the only takedown in a 3-2 decision, which brought the Sun Devils within 10-9 at intermission.

Schultz’s victory started a three bout Arizona State run that gave the Sun Devils the lead for good. First-year Carter Bailey avoided bonus points, but fell 10-3 to ninth-ranked Brandon Courtney at 125.

In a matchup of top six wrestlers at 133, no. 4 Michael McGee edged No. 6 Connor McGonagle 8-6. The match was tied 2-2 after one period and McGee went ahead 5-2 after two, but McGonagle came back to tie the match at 5-5 with a reversal and a penalty point. McGee scored the decisive takedown in the third and held off McGonagle after an escape.

Sophomore Malyke Hines delivered Lehigh’s third win of the night with a 2-1 decision over Jesse Vasquez in a matchup of ranked wrestlers at 141. The wrestlers traded escapes in the second and third periods with the difference being 1:02 of riding time advantage for Hines.

Arizona State put the dual away at 149 as fifth-ranked Kyle Parco won a 15-0, third period technical fall over sophomore Manzona Bryant IV.

Sophomore Max Brignola moved up to 157 and won the final bout of the night 4-0 over Max Wilner.

Gallery: (1-28-2023) Wrestling vs Arizona State, 1/28/23

“I saw a lot of positive things tonight,” Santoro said. “Some guys wrestled really well. I thought 184, 197, heavyweight wrestled well. Carter competed well. Connor had a great match that was really fun to watch. Malyke beat another ranked guy. We didn’t make the mental mistakes that we did last night. We just needed one more and unfortunately that’s the nature of the beast.”

The Mountain Hawks are back at Leeman-Turner Arena next Saturday to host Army West Point on Senior Day and Salute to Service, presented by Weis Markets. Match time is set for 2 pm Tickets can be purchased at LehighTickets.com or by calling 610-7LU-GAME during normal business hours.

The 2022-23 Lehigh wrestling season is presented by the Historic Hotel Bethlehem.

No. 17 Arizona State 20, no. 21 Lehigh 16
165 – Tony Negron (ASU) dec. Luca Frinzi (Lehigh) 6-2
174 – Cael Valencia (ASU) dec. Jake Logan (Lehigh) 8-6, sv
184 – Tate Samuelson (Lehigh) major dec. Shay Addison (ASU) 16-7
197 – Michael Beard (Lehigh) Fall Damion Schunke (ASU) 2:35
285 – Cohlton Schultz (ASU) dec. Nathan Taylor (Lehigh) 3-2
125 – Brandon Courtney (ASU) dec. Carter Bailey (Lehigh) 10-3
133 – Michael McGee (ASU) dec. Connor McGonagle (Lehigh) 8-6
141 – Malyke Hines (Lehigh) dec. Jesse Vasquez (ASU) 2-1
149 – Kyle Parco (ASU) tech falls Manzona Bryant IV (Lehigh) 15-0, 5:22
157 – Max Brignola (Lehigh) dec. Max Wilner (ASU) 4-0
Attendance – 1,855

Like Lehigh Wrestling on Facebook and follow on Twitter other Instagram for exclusive updates throughout the season.

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – Lehigh got a fall from Michael Beard (197) and a major decision from Tate Samuelson (184) but ended up on the short end of a 20-16 loss to Arizona State on Saturday at Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall.

Starting at 165, the back-to-back bonus points gave the Mountain Hawks (6-9) a 10-6 lead. The Sun Devils swept the next three weight classes, however, to grab a lead they would not relinquish.

Other winners for Lehigh included Malyke Hines (141) and Max Brignola (157).

The Mountain Hawks are scheduled to host Army West Point on Saturday.

ASU 20, Lehigh 16

165 – Tony Negron (ASU) d. Luca Frinzi 6-2

174 – Cael Valencia (ASU) d. Jake Logan 8-6 sv

184 – No. 20 Tate Samuelson (L) md. Josh number 16-7

197 – No. 3 Michael Beard (L) p. Damion Schunke 2:35

285 – No. 6 Colton Schultz (ASU) d. No. 30 Nathan Taylor 3-2

125 – Brandon Courtney (ASU) d. Carter Bailey 10-3

133 – No. 4 Michael McGee (ASU) d. No. 6 Connor McGonagle 8-6

141 – No. 28 Malyke Hines (L) d. No. 22 Jesse Vasquez 2-1

149 – No. 5 Kyle Parco (ASU) tf. Manzona Bryant IV 15-0

157 – Max Brignola (L) d. Max Wilner 4-0

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LEWISBURG, Pa. -The Lehigh men’s swimming and diving team was back in Lewisburg for the second straight week, partaking in the Bison Invite Saturday afternoon at Kinney Natatorium.

The Mountain Hawks finished in fifth out of seven teams, coming home with 180 points.

The 200-yard medley relay picked up 34 points for Lehigh with a second-place mark of 1:32.06. Elvin Lee led the way. Jack DeVilbiss, Aaron Williams and Aiden McCurley were next.

Lee scored 16 more points for Lehigh in the 200-yard backstroke. He finished third with a time of 1:54.61.

Lee was also on the 200-yard freestyle relay team, which finished in sixth out of 19 teams. That relay took home 26 points. Tim Norris, Nick Gewartowski and Alex Patti were the other Lehigh swimmers on the relay team. They finished with a time of 1:25.67.

DeVilbiss took home a sixth-place finish in the 100-yard freestyle (46.80) and an eighth-place finish in the 100-yard butterfly (51.54).

Connor Goodyear scored 11 points in his individual events. He took 10th in the 200-yard freestyle (1:43.73) and 12th in the 100-yard freestyle (48.03).

Patti also scored 14 points for Lehigh, finishing in fifth in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:55.30.

The Mountain Hawks next meet will be the Patriot League Championships, which is also in Lewisburg. The championships run from Feb. 15-Feb. 18

Like Lehigh Swimming and Diving on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.

next game:

Army West Point

2/1/2023 | 7:00 PM

Fox Sports Radio 94.7 FM and 1230 AM

Feb 01 (Wed) / 7:00 PM

Army West Point

History

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh men’s basketball team recorded its eighth-straight victory with a 66-55 win over Boston University on Sunday afternoon at Stabler Arena. The Mountain Hawks match their longest winning streak since 2018.

Lehigh is 13-8 overall and improved his Patriot League record to 8-2 while the Terriers fall to 10-13 on the season and 3-7 in league play. The Brown and White earned their first win over BU since the 2020 season.

A back-and-forth first half had Lehigh see its largest lead of five points on multiple occasions, the last coming at 19-14 before BU scored six-straight points to take its first lead at 20-19 with 6:13 remaining in the half. After surrendering the lead, senior Evan Taylor knocked down a three-pointer to put Lehigh back in front, 22-20. The Terriers tied it back up but the Brown and White took a 26-23 lead with just over two minutes until halftime. BU scored the last four points of the half to take a 27-26 advantage into the locker room.

GET THAT OUTTA HERE!! @Henriadiassa is having none of that! #GoLehigh https://t.co/pDLTUNNq7e

— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) January 29, 2023

The Terriers started off the second half extending their lead to 38-30 before the Mountain Hawks slowly inched their way back and tied the game at 40-40 with a layup from sophomore Tyler Whitney-Sidney. Whitney-Sidney then knocked down a three-pointer that gave Lehigh its first lead, 43-40, since late in the first half. BU came with a point but Lehigh would remain on top for the rest of the contest, coming out on top, 66-55.

Four Mountain Hawks finished in double figures and combined for 55 of Lehigh’s 66 points. Sophomore Keith Higgins Jr. led all scorers with 19 points and added four rebounds and one steal. Both Taylor and Whitney-Sidney finished with 13 points apiece. Whitney-Sidney finished with six boards, an assist and a steal while Taylor had five rebounds, three of them being offensive. Rounding out the double-digit scorers was junior Jalin Sinclair, who finished with 10 points and a team-high three assists with two rebounds. These four Mountain Hawks were perfect from the free-throw line, finishing a clean 18-for-18 at the charity stripe.

Junior Dominic Parolin finished with nine points and led Lehigh with seven rebounds, three of them being offensive boards, with two steals and one assist. Classmate JT Tan made his lone basket and added two rebounds.

The Brown and White shot 36.5 percent (19-for-52) from the floor while shooting 23.8 percent (5-for-21) from long distance while Boston University shot 34.1 percent (15-for-44) and 17.6 percent (3- for-17) from behind the three-point line.

Lehigh committed seven turnovers that BU turned into just two points while the Terriers were forced into 15 miscues that the Mountain Hawks turned into 20 points. The Brown and White were out-rebounded 36-30 and BU led points in the paint, 18-14. Lehigh also scored 23 of its 66 points from the foul line.

The Mountain Hawks are back in Stabler Arena on Wednesday, Feb. 1 to host Army West Point to conclude the regular season series. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 pm Tickets can be purchased at LehighTickets.com or by calling 610-7LU-GAME during business hours.

Like Lehigh Men’s Basketball on Facebookfollow on Twitter other Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more. Single-game tickets are on sale HERE.

Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Boston University Terriers (10-12) vs Lehigh Mountain Hawks (12-8)
January 29, 2023 12:00 pm EDT
The Line: Lehigh Mountain Hawks -2.5 / Boston University Terriers +2.5; Over/Under: +137.5
(Get latest betting odds)

The Boston University Terriers and the Lehigh Mountain Hawks meet in college basketball action from the Stabler Arena on Sunday afternoon. Let’s dive into the odds, injuries, matchup history and make a prediction for this game.

odds

Lehigh is listed as a 2.5-point home favorite with a ML price of -145. The total for this game is set at 137.5 points.

injuries

Neither side has anyone listed on the injury report for this game, so barring any last-minute announcements, both sides will come into this game at full strength.

Matchup History

Boston U has won the last three head-to-head meetings with Lehigh after an 80-74 win over the Mountain Hawks back on February 5th, 2022.

trends

Boston University is 12-4 ATS in their last 16 games following an ATS loss and 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games following a double-digit loss at home while the over is 4-0 in their last 4 games against a team with a winning record. Lehigh is 7-0 ATS in their last 7 games overall 6-0 ATS in their last 6 games against a team with a losing record while the over is 5-2 in their last 7 games following a win.

peck

I’m sticking with Lehigh in this one. The Mountain Hawks have been the better team by a fair margin coming into this game and only being asked to lay a bucket with Lehigh feels like a gift. Boston U has had some success in this matchup winning the last three meetings, but they can’t get out of their own way right now. Give me the Mountain Hawks laying the points here.

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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – First-year Laura Reigle made history in her first rivalry meet as a Mountain Hawk, breaking her own school record to become the first female in Lehigh history to jump 4.00m. On top of Reigle’s record breaking performance, the Lehigh women’s track and field team continued to shine as the team defeated Lafayette 108.5-72.5 on Saturday in Rauch Fieldhouse to claim its 14th straight victory over the Leopards in the Rivalry presented by Lehigh Valley Orthopedic Institute.

“The one thing I’ve been pushing the team on, over and over again this season, has been ‘You guys have to do a better job of emoting in performance’ in other words, when someone is ready to perform, you call their name, you clap, you cheer before the performance, in the performance, after the performance,” said head coach Khayla Atte. “Because what that does is when you put something out there to another person, you’re giving them more energy and then when they perform and it gets better and better, you also get something back.”

“The one thing that they did well is they took the wave of the first event on the track for the women and then you saw the throwers’ synergy hit the long jump which then translated to the pole vault and it just kept going,” Atte continued. “That’s not something we consistently do well but it’s something we need to be better at. I saw that today and that’s why you saw performances get better as we go.”

The Mountain Hawks opened up their annual dual meet against the Leopards by sweeping three field events. Lehigh started the day off with a win in the high jump, led by junior Kerry Perna who finished first with a mark of 1.57m. First-years Melanie LaCorte (1.57m) and Gretchen Haray (1.52m) showed no signs of nerves in their first rivalry meet, finishing second and third, respectively, in the high jump.

Lehigh continued to dominate in the jumps, winning the long jump, triple jump and pole vault. In the long jump, the Mountain Hawks picked up their second sweep of the day with sophomore Keisha Modi (5.50m) finishing first, senior Avery Roze (5.29m) finishing second and sophomore Lillian Mauger (5.28m) finishing third.

Casey Talamini-Kelemen picked up a win of her own in the triple jump. The sophomore finished first overall with a mark of 11.48m. Junior Nina Cialone followed suit, finishing second with a mark of 11.34m while senior Rachel Sequeira completed the sweep, finishing third with a mark of 11.04m.

Reigle’s school record earned her another first-place finish in her first year as a Mountain Hawk. Sophomore Randi Conroy finished second overall with a mark of 3.67m. Both Reigle and Conroy ended Saturday with ECAC qualifying marks.

“Laura is doing better with being relaxed under pressure,” said Atte. “She tends to be very focused but today she had really good vibes. She was allowing what was happening around her to positively affect her performance so she could make adjustments and go for it. She definitely has more in her. Definitely another six inches if not more but she’s a first-year so it’s great to watch first-years make adjustments and do well so it’s exciting.”

Lehigh continued to dominate on the track, earning first-place finishes in the first seven events. Junior Christina Yakaboski claimed the Mountain Hawks’ first track victory on Saturday, winning the mile with a time of 5:04.18. Lehigh went on to sweep the event with first-year Lucy Afanasewicz (5:05.89) finishing second and junior Abigail Tenreiro (5:10.18) finishing third.

Following Yakaboski’s win in the mile, the Mountain Hawks showed no signs of slowing down on the track. Senior Ashley Griesmeyer earned Lehigh’s first sprints victory of the day. Griesmeyer won the 60m hurdles with an ECAC qualifying time of 8.67 to become third all-time. Graduate student Chae Kim followed close behind, finishing second with a time of 9.06.

The Mountain Hawks’ sprinters continued to shine as they went on to claim three more first-place finishes. First-year Grace Kennedy added her name to the top ten all-time list, winning the 400m with a time of 58.08 to become tied for sixth. Fellow first-year Abigail Kleber (1:00.20) finished second while graduate student Lauren Powell (1:00.68) finished third.

Junior Ashley Struck made her 500m debut but showed no signs of nerves as she won the event with a time of 1:16.92 to become sixth all-time. In the 60m, first-year Gianna Mangili earned her first rivalry win, finishing first with a time of 7.88. Griesmeyer finished second in the 60m with a personal best of 8.01.

“Ashley Struck, when we had some goals meetings during preseason, came in with a sheet of paper and told me exactly what she was planning,” Atte said. “She wrote it down in order of preseason, indoor, outdoor, what times, what marks, that’s it. She has a very, “I’m going to do this’ attitude and when you have a student-athlete like that, as a coach you can’t get in their way. You just have to say, ‘Okay. I support you.”

Lehigh’s middle distance and distance runners wrapped up Saturday with four more first-place finishes for the Mountain Hawks. Sophomore Lauryn Heskin finished first in the 800m with a personal best of 2:17.79 while senior Andrea Miller won the 1000m with a personal best of 2:56.60. Fellow senior Elena Perez-Segnini followed suit, finishing second in the 1000m with a time of 2:59.41.

“The 500 meters and the 1000 meters are not highly contested events,” Atte said. “You don’t see them very often. They’re very hard events because someone is either stepping up or stepping down. I think that everyone who competed in those two events showed guts in a totally different way.

“On the women’s side we had some that were 800 specialists, some that were 200 or 400 specialists and someone who was a multi,” Atte continued. “It was a crazy mix of people but it was like, ‘We’re all just going to show up.’ I think that was the exciting part, if I put you in a situation where I know you’ve trained for it, will you just compete and believe in yourself?Because you can’t figure out in your mind how to run 500 meters or 1000 meters, you just have to do it. Those were two events that I thought were really exciting to watch.”

With its 14th straight victory secured, Lehigh wrapped up Saturday with two relay races and showed no signs of slowing down. In the first relay, Mauger, Struck, Powell and first-year Amber Barrios teamed up to run in the 4×400 relay. The team picked up the Mountain Hawks’ 12th victory of the day, winning the race with a time of 4:01.48.

In the final race of the meet, the Mountain Hawks claimed their final victory in the 4×800 relay. Kleber ran alongside seniors Allison Duane and Annalize Davis and junior Simone Davey to win the event with a time of 9:46.68.

“Current athletes can compare themselves to everyone, all the time, in real time, so chances are half of them have already looked on TFFRs to see how their ranking has changed in the Patriot League” Atte said. “As amazing as that is, they can be paralyzing to some of them. For some of them, it’s going to positively affect their performance because now they have more belief in themselves.

“For some of them, it’s going to almost create a paralysis so I’m hoping that we lean and skew towards the side of ‘I’m actually better than I thought I was,.’ continued Atte.”That tends to be something that I’m always pushing. You have to believe in yourself more. I think you hold back too much so you have to lean in and believe in yourself in an undying fashion.”

The Lafayette dual meet marks the final home meet of the season for Lehigh. The Mountain Hawks will travel to New York City on Feb. 3-4 to compete at the Scarlet Knight Open at the Armory.

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