The Leopards will look ahead to the Patriot League Championships later this month.
The Lafayette Leopards men’s and women’s cross country teams faced off against their rivals, Lehigh University, at Metzgar Fields on Friday. Despite their efforts, both teams were unable to secure victories, yet their performances showcased notable achievements.
Women’s Competition: Narrow Loss
The women’s race concluded with a tight finish, as Lehigh edged out Lafayette with a score of 27 to 30. This marks the closest outcome in the rivalry since 2009, significantly better than last year’s 11-point deficit and a 32-point loss in 2024.
“It hurts in the moment because we were so close,” commented associate head coach Anthony Dentino. “But when you’re able to take a step back, it’s been really cool to see just how much we’ve closed that gap on Lehigh.”
In the competitive 6K race, standout performances from the Leopards included junior Kendall Collier, who secured second place with a time of 21:36.1. She was closely followed by junior Anya Kazemi, who finished third at 21:42.5, and senior Ava Severino, who placed fourth with a time of 22:01.7.
“Our front three going two, three, four on one of the better teams in the league says a lot about them and the effort that they had,” Dentino praised. “Kendall, Anya and Ava were absolutely fantastic.”
Although Lehigh claimed the next five finishing spots, Lafayette rebounded with five consecutive finishers of their own, highlighted by senior Bridget Shaver’s 10th place finish (22:40.3) and freshman Grace Houlihan’s 11th place at 22:52.3.
Shaver noted, “One of the great things about the dual meet that I like so much is that time really isn’t a factor. It’s mostly about how you compete, and I think that really plays to my strengths.” She added, “Our team has come so far in the past few years, and we’ve really cut down our average pace.”
Men’s Competition: Lehigh Dominates
In the men’s race, Lehigh achieved a flawless performance, claiming the top five individual finishes and securing a perfect score of 15 compared to Lafayette’s 44 points.
Freshman Hudson Schunk was close to breaking the sweep, finishing just one second behind Lehigh’s fifth runner, securing sixth place with a time of 25:29.6. Junior Alec Miner followed in seventh (25:43.0), and junior Cole Scattergood rounded out the top eight in eighth place (25:47.4). Junior David Whitford and freshman Evan Reidinger also contributed to the scoring by finishing 11th (25:50.6) and 14th (25:58.0) respectively.
This year’s competition saw Lafayette’s runners performing notably well; while last year two runners broke the 26-minute mark, five runners achieved this feat this season. Dentino remarked on the overall improvement, stating, “Our one through seven averaged under 26, and that’s something we have not done in my time here.”
Despite the progress, he acknowledged that Lehigh has also improved, stating, “The unfortunate part for the guys is that Lehigh took a bit of a jump from where they were last year, and our league keeps getting better and better too.”
Upcoming Events
The Leopards will take a short break before returning to competition. Their next outing will be at the Aubrey Shenk Invitational, hosted by Gettysburg College, on October 17.