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Patriot League Championship Results
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Saturday Recap
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Melissa Cunningham made her Patriot League Championship debut this weekend, but for those watching her at Gerhard Fieldhouse, few could tell it was the first-year’s first time on the big stage. Cunningham did something many track and field veterans struggled to do: break two school records in one day.
The first-year broke her own school record in the 60m, finishing third with a time of 7.72. One school record was not enough for Cunningham as she went on to break her own school record again, this time in the 200m, finishing seventh with a time of 25.31. She contributed eight points to Lehigh’s overall team score of 60. The Mountain Hawks finished fifth overall at Bucknell this weekend, falling to Navy who won the meet with 202 points.
“Melissa is some kind of talent,” said head coach Matt Utesch. “She has a lot of talent, she’s really focuses on each race before she actually races and then she brings it all together and does a great job. Like Jonathan Bennett, we’re going to talk about her breaking a lot of records as time goes on and I look forward to that.”
Lehigh found success on the track during the two-day championship meet, earning points in six track events on Sunday. The distance group contributed a great amount to Lehigh’s 60 total points.
Leading the way was seniors Jade Sessions and Julia Dorley. The duo were coming off of a first-place victory in the 4×800 on Saturday with fellow seniors Kara Bonner and Hetty McMillan. Sessions (2:12.82) and Dorley (2:13.60) finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the 800m, contributing nine points to Lehigh’s overall team score.
Bonner ended her indoor season on a high note. The senior finished seventh in the mile, grabbing a new PR of 4:55.27. Junior Elena Perez-Segnini also earned a PR in the mile, finishing with a time of 4:59.69.
McMillan competed in the distance medley relay team along with graduate student Kaja Skerlj and first-years Amanda Mircovich and Lauryn Heskin. The relay team finished second overall with a time of 11:44.35.
“Hetty made a huge team choice to run in the relays,” said Utesch. “The mid-distance and distance girls were phenomenal today. Amanda Mircovich dropped a second off her time in the 800m and for a first-year to do that, that’s just amazing. They’re an amazing group of girls and that’s another testimony to the staff.”
The final relay team to compete in the Patriot League Championships was the 4×400 who finished seventh overall. Sophomore Simone Davey kicked off the relay before passing the baton to fellow sophomore Jordyn Hock. First-year Stephanie Webb served as the third runner of the relay team before passing the baton to senior Camari Griffin. The relay team finished with a time of 4:02.68.
The Mountain Hawks earned points in three field events on Sunday at Gerhard Fieldhouse. Leading the way was junior Calista Marzolino who tied her PR in the high jump (1.70m). Marzolino finished third overall, contributing six points to Lehigh’s team score.
First-year Casey Talamini-Kelemen showed no signs of nerves in her final day of championship competition. Talamini-Kelemen finished third overall in the triple jump with a huge PR of 11.83m. Sophomore Nina Cialone and first-year Lillian Mauger also finished the triple jump with new PRs. Cialone finished ninth with a mark of 11.58m while Mauger finished with a mark of 10.90m.
“Casey is a vicious competitor but she also seems naive about the events she does,” Utesch said. “She’s more comfortable in the triple jump than the pole vault. She doesn’t have a giant technical IQ but she’s an athlete and competitor.”
On the throws side, senior Teasha McKoy grabbed a sixth place finish in her final indoor Patriot League championship. McKoy finished with a mark of 14.04m in the shot put.
The Mountain Hawks will take a break from competing to prepare for the outdoor season. Lehigh will begin its outdoor season on March 18-19 at the UCF Spring Break Invitational in Orlando, Fla.
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