Lehigh women’s cross country secures perfect score

With a perfect score, Lehigh’s women’s cross country team earned their 19th consecutive win against rival Lafayette.

All five of the Mountain Hawks’ top runners finished before Lafayette’s first runner which equates to a perfect score. 

Lehigh track and field coach Debbie Utesch said she tries to inspire each runner to perform their best and do well for themselves and the rest of the team. 

“For the first-year student-athletes on the team, their age matches our win streak against Lafayette,” Utesch said. “I challenged them to increase the win streak to match their age over the course of their Lehigh (cross country) career so when they graduate, they will have extended the win streak to 22.”

Senior Maddison Hayes claimed first place in the race against Lafayette with a 6k time of 22:02.2.  

Hayes beat her time from last year, 22:06:51, which earned her second place in the meet against Lafayette in 2023, by more than four seconds.  

Despite her individual success, she said she was focused on the team’s overall performance. 

“Because we went into it with such a team-oriented mindset, I was so focused on making sure that it was Lehigh, Lehigh, Lehigh across the finish line,” Hayes said. “I looked behind me right away to see our squad coming in.” 

Senior Savannah Beavers came in fourth at the dual meet. She said team bonding prior to each race is extremely important, as it helps maintain relationships within the sport and helps form connections beyond running.

Beavers said the team has annual traditions including a meet-up over the summer to get to know first-years and welcome them to the program. They also run from Lehigh’s campus to Lafayette’s campus as a group each season.

“Having opportunities like this where we can explore our personalities outside of sports helps us when we race to trust each other and understand each other better,” Beavers said.

Hayes said the team went into the Lafayette meet just like they always do. 

“We always go into it with the expectation that anything could happen, and we still have to be prepared to put everything on the line to keep the streak going,” Hayes said. “We never take any race for granted.” 

On Oct. 18, the team will travel to New York for ECAC championships, and Utesch said they’re expecting to have some All-East performers at the race. 

The Patriot League Championships will follow two weeks later. This year, since opposing teams are performing at different levels than previous seasons, the championship should allow for new competition.

“Long-term, the Patriot League is looking a little different this year, so we’re curious to see where we might fit into the mix and see if we can move up and compete with teams that we’ve gone head to head with in the past,” Hayes said. 

Beaver said the team has a lot of potential moving forward, as underclassman are showcasing dominant performances.