BETHLEHEM, Pa.- Three Lafayette women were crowned Patriot League champions this weekend, as the Leopard track and field team competed in the 2007 Outdoor Patriot League Championships. Ashley Harbin, Sue Izevbigie and Kristen Kalinowski claimed individual titles, leading the Leopard women to a fourth place finish in the final team standings while the Lafayette men placed sixth.

Harbin garners her first league title in the hammer after grabbing a second place finish in last year's championships. Her 193'4" mark was victorious by just under four feet over Bucknell's Marjorie Grap. The victory is the sixth consecutive win in the hammer for the reigning Patriot League Female Field Athlete of the Week, a streak that started in the annual outdoor meet against Lehigh on April 7.

Izevbigie established an NCAA regional qualifying mark and a new personal best 48'2" on the way to her first league title. The sophomore set the Patriot League outdoor record and claimed the victory on her second throw of the finals.

Kalinowski earned the gold with a total of 4,646 points in the heptathlon. The junior West Nyack, N.Y. native had to win the 800 meters by four and a half seconds to claim the overall title by 16 points in the final overall point standings. She did just that, winning by four and a half seconds and setting an ECAC qualifying mark and notching a personal best by almost 300 points in the competition.

The Lafayette relay teams made their presence felt throughout the championship weekend, which was held at Lehigh University.

The Leopard 4x100 relay team, consisting of Kisha Thomas, Meaghan Darling, Vanessa Youngs and Jessica Buzzell, qualified for the ECAC Championships and broke the Lafayette school record with a 47.46 second performance. Buzzell turned in a third place mark in the women's long jump, leaping 18'7", just a quarter of an inch off the school record.

The 4x800 team of Christine Wittich, Brittany Waldron, Meghan Baker and Katie Schultes also met the ECAC Championship standard after a 9:13.78 time. The Leopard 4x400 team scored a third place result, as Baker and Darling teamed up with Meredith Cohen and Lauren Phelps to clock in at 3:54.01.

The men were led by an IC4A qualifying mark from the 4x100 relay team. The foursome of William Braswell, Bradley Williams, Adam Ballester and Ever Ruiz tallied a fourth place finish (42.21 seconds) and four team points for the Leopards.

Ruiz also teamed up for a successful 4x400 relay performance as well as a personal best 53.93 second time in the 400 meter hurdles. Teammate Sifiso Takirambudde turned in a second place finish (14.82 seconds) in the 110 meter hurdles, followed up by a sixth place time (54.70 seconds) in the 400 intermediate hurdles.

Junior Alex Wechsler finished third in the men's 3000 meter steeplechase, finishing at 9:04.97 to tally six third place team points.

The throwing corps as Sean McAuley bettered his IC4A qualifying mark and finished third in the shot put (158'6) followed by a sixth place finish from senior Tyler Jones (148'4"). Seamas McGuire (194'3") finished sixth in the javelin.

The Leopard decathlon duo of freshman Kyle Clayton and Kyle DeFranceschi also turned in successful results for the first-year decathlon competitors. DeFranceschi totaled 6233 overall points to finish in third place while Clayton garnered 5881 points to finish fifth in the 10-event competition.

Army claimed its 16th consecutive Patriot League Outdoor Track and Field title, while the Bucknell women took the team title with 207 points for its fourth straight league outdoor championship.

Lafayette shifts its focus to the ECAC and IC4A Championships next weekend at Princeton University. Events are scheduled to get underway on Friday, May 11 at noon.

2007 Patriot League Outdoor Track and Field Men's Results

1. Army 162
2. Bucknell 144
3. Navy 141
4. Lehigh 79
5. American 74
6. Lafayette 50
7. Colgate 19
8. Holy Cross 13

2007 Patriot League Outdoor Track and Field Women's Results

1. Bucknell 207
2. Navy 187
3. Army 108
4. Lafayette 65.50
5. Lehigh 48.50
6. Colgate 42
7. Holy Cross 22
8. American 2