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BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Lehigh men’s women’s track and field teams finished its second meet of the outdoor season with several solid performances. Thirteen Mountain Hawks finished both the Raleigh Relays and Navy Invitational with PRs this weekend.
Senior Kyle Burke kicked things off for Lehigh on Thursday at the Raleigh Relays. The senior, who broke four school records during the indoor season, has his eyes on two more school records before graduating in May. Burke kicked off his final outdoor season with a new PR in the 1500m. He finished with a time of 3:47.79 and is now fourth all-time.
Jacob Martinez competed alongside Burke in the 1500m at North Carolina State. The junior finished with a new PR of 3:55.32.
The Mountain Hawks continued to find success in their second outdoor weekend of the season, finishing the Navy Invitational with 14 PRs and three first-place finishes.
Leading the way for Lehigh was the distance group, who finished with seven PRs. In the 5000m, graduate student Seth Slavin finished second with a new PR of 14:52.79. First-year Aidan Lynch had a solid start to his first outdoor meet for Lehigh, finishing third with a time of 14:57.36. Senior Avery Lederer and junior Tyler French also finished the 5000m with PRs. Lederer finished with a time of 15:19.14 while French finished with a time of 15:01.43.
Four Mountain Hawks finished the 800m with PRs on Saturday. Leading the way was senior Kyle Burke who finished second (1:50.56). Burke is now fourth all-time in Lehigh history and is one step closer to breaking his fifth school record of the year. Juniors Kerem Ayhan, Jacob Martinez and Ryan Wycherley each secured a new PR in the 800m as well. Martinez finished seventh with a time of 1:52.24 while Ayhan and Wycherley finished with respective times of 1:56.51 and 2:02.99.
“For Kyle too come back from Raleigh on a six, seven hour car ride and almost break another school record in his second outdoor meet of the season, that’s pretty good,” said head coach Matt Utesch.
First-years Jonathan Bennett and Patrez Thomas finished Saturday with solid performances for Lehigh. Bennett finished first in the 110m hurdles with a time of 14.46. He is now sixth all-time for the Mountain Hawks. Thomas finished second in the 400m hurdles with a new PR of 56.58.
Lehigh’s 4×400 relay team was able to grab a first-place finish at Navy. Senior Harrison Ernst and juniors Brandtson Duffie, Douglas Cooke and Ayhan finished with a time of 3:25.59.
Lehigh was able to add more impressive performances in the field on Saturday as well. The throwers had a solid day, finishing with three PRs total. Sophomore Achilles Mouzakis led the way for Lehigh. Mouzakis finished sixth in the hammer throw (51.44m) and is also sixth all-time.
“Achilles has been chomping at the bit to get out and throw his specialty and he did not disappoint,” said Utesch. “All of these kids that have outdoor events like javelin, steeplechase, 400m hurdles, they’ve been working a long time to get to their events. It’s rewarding as a coach to see these kids come out in difficult weather conditions and do such a great job.”
First-year Hunter Rodarmel continued to build on his success from last weekend. Rodarmel finished the javelin with a new PR of 51.05m. He finished fifth overall in his second outdoor meet of the season. Sophomore Sam Weber also grabbed a PR in Annapolis on Saturday. Weber finished the shot put with a mark of 13.62m.
The Mountain Hawks were able to finish Saturday with solid marks in the jumps events as well. Leading the way for Lehigh was first-year Skyler Mott. Mott finished first in the high jump with a mark of 1.95m. He also grabbed a sixth-place finish in the triple jump as well (12.73m).
“Skyler’s a really strong kid and he has a future to be really good here,” Utesch said. “The most encouraging thing about him is that he has so much room to grow.”
Ian Scott made his outdoor debut for Lehigh on Saturday and finished with several great marks to begin his junior season. Scott finished second in the long jump while grabbing a new PR of 6.87m. He also finished third in the high jump with a mark of 1.90m.
“We retooled Ian’s long jump approach over the past three weeks and clearly it’s working,” said Utesch. “He’s doing really well with it and I’m really happy where he’s at right now.”
Fellow junior Louis Logsdail also made his outdoor season debut at the Navy Invitational. Logsdail finished seventh in the pole vault while securing a new PR of 4.47m.
The Mountain Hawks will head back to the Lehigh Valley to prepare for their annual dual meet against Lafayette. Lehigh will head to Easton, Pa. to take on Lafayette on Saturday, April 2.
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