Kelly McCoy/B&W Staff
This is the first edition of what will become a weekly installment in The Brown and White sports section. This list is a ranking of the 11 varsity Lehigh spring sports, based on record, strength of schedule and recent results.
1. Softball (33-12, 11-2 Patriot)
The softball team comes in as the top team in the first edition of The Brown and White‘s rankings for Lehigh sports, boasting an impressive overall record and winning percentage inside the conference. It owns non-conference wins over teams in major conferences such as Purdue University and Rutgers University. Lehigh is coming off of a doubleheader sweep over Bucknell University on Saturday.
2. Women’s lacrosse (12-4, 6-3 Patriot)
The team’s only non-conference loss was against Penn State University, ranked No. 6 in the nation at the time, and Lehigh will now go into the Patriot League Tournament as the No. 4 seed. The Mountain Hawks are coming off of a win against Bucknell University and will face No. 5 Colgate University next.
3. Men’s tennis (15-6, 5-3 Patriot)
The men’s tennis team was eliminated in the semifinals of the Patriot League Tournament by Navy after entering as the No. 5 seed. Lehigh started the season 10-1, dominating its non-conference schedule before winning the majority of its league matchups as well.
4. Women’s tennis (9-9, 4-4 Patriot)
Despite an exactly average record, the team dominates when it wins, shutting out its opponent 7-0 in seven of its nine wins this year. The Hawks’ season came to an end in the first round of the Patriot League Tournament, though, a loss to Bucknell 4-2.
5. Men’s golf
The team finished second in each of its first two tournaments, including in the Wildcat Invitational, which was out of 21 teams. The team did lose to Lafayette College though and then finished in sixth place out of eight teams in the Patriot League Championship, capping off a late-season struggle.
6. Women’s track and field
Lehigh isn’t nationally ranked, but it put in a good showing at the Lehigh Games and Penn Relays this past weekend. Courtney Avery led the way with a first-place showing in high jump in both events, which was the first time a Lehigh female athlete won a Championship of America event at the Penn Relays in school history.
7. Men’s lacrosse (6-9, 4-4 Patriot)
The men’s lacrosse team beat everyone it was supposed to, with its only quality win coming over Boston University, which was ranked No. 20 at the time. However, it lost seven of its last eight games, including 13-6 to Army West Point in the quarterfinals of the Patriot League Tournament.
8. Baseball (21-29, 9-10 Patriot)
The baseball team had a rough start to the season, which included a 10-game losing streak in March. It bounced back though and won seven straight games, six of which are in the conference, before losing once to Army on Sunday. Lehigh also recently lost both games of a doubleheader to University of Maryland – Eastern Shore (14-29).
9. Women’s golf
The team only had four tournaments before the Patriot League Championship, posting its best finish at the Navy Spring Tournament, coming in second of four teams. Previous to that, the team finished in the middle or in the bottom half of the pack in its other tournaments, including ninth of 14 teams in the Eaglecat Invitational and 14th of 19 teams in the William and Mary Intercollegiate. Lehigh finished third of six teams in the league championship.
10. Men’s track and field
The team has had an up-and-down season, most recently competing in the Lehigh Games at home and the Penn Relays. It won five events at the Lehigh Games, with junior Lucas Warning posting the second-farthest shot put throw in the Patriot League this season, trailing his own mark from earlier in the year.
11. Women’s rowing
The team has had some struggles this season, most recently losing to University of Delaware in both of its varsity eight boat races. It will have its Patriot League Championship on May 13.
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The rankings were determined as a group by the sports editors of The Brown and White and are their opinion, not a statement of fact.
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