Results | Photo Gallery

EASTON, Pa. - With one event remaining Sunday afternoon, Lafayette's men held a 96-95 advantage over Lehigh. Everything was going to come down to the 4x400 meter relay.

The Leopards came through in the clutch. The relay foursome of Tom Strand, Jake Hubertus, Michael Smitelli and Kia Shahideh crossed the line in 3:23.88, over two seconds ahead of the Mountain Hawks, to secure the men's team's second outdoor dual meet win over Lehigh in the past three years.

That race victory was one of 10 on the day for the men, who prevailed by a 101-98 margin. The Leopard women added eight event victories of their own, including 7-of-11 events on the track, but Lehigh lost only once in the field to manage a 117-85 triumph over the Maroon and White.

Lafayette dominated the sprint races in both genders. Jarrel Bobb took first in both the 100 dash (11.02) and 200 dash (22.42) in his spring debut, while Smitelli finished as the runner up in each of those events. The freshmen duo of Strand and Hubertus went 1-2 in the 400 dash with times of 51.10 and 51.66, respectively.

Thomas Day added an individual win for the men on the track in the 3000m steeplechase, with his time of 9:27.93 topping Lehigh's Scott Mason by over seven seconds. The remaining two track victories for the Leopards came in the relays. The 4x100m relay foursome of Marcus Vilme, Smitelli, Strand and Bobb (43.98) earned the only five points in the race after Lehigh's foursome was disqualified.

The men also split the eight contested events in the field. Michael Thorne began the meet with a triumph in the pole vault after clearing 14' 7 1/4". The Maroon and White finished 1-2 in the discus, hammer and javelin as well. Dave McGriff took first in the discus (167' 10") and hammer (168' 8"), adding 10 points to the team total. He was followed by Patrick Corcoran (140' 4") in the discus and Dan Sweitzer (144' 3") in the hammer.

Mike Moralle, meanwhile, claimed the top spot in the javelin with a top throw of 193' 4", 30 feet ahead of teammate Collin Owen in second place.

Devin Smith finished first in each of her individual events to lead the Lafayette women. Smith won both the 200 dash (25.26) and 400 dash (57.33), just edging out Drew Davis (57.76) in the 400. Erin Keen rounded out the sprint sweep for the women with a first-place showing in the 100 dash (12.13). Keen's effort was a new season-best, the second-fastest in the Patriot League this spring, and the fourth-fastest in Lafayette program history.

The other individual track wins came from Kelly Reager in the 800 (2:19.06) and Stephanie Benko in the 3000m steeplechase (10:56.49). Reager beat out Lehigh's Tyler Scanlin by just over two-tenths of a second, while Benko, who posted the fastest mark in the conference this spring, was over 23 seconds ahead of her nearest competitor.

The Leopards also claimed first in the 4x100m relay, with the foursome of Davis, Keen, Kristin Cabrera and Smith (48.85) topping Lehigh by 0.94.

Mara Blanchard had Lafayette's lone win in the field, winning the pole vault after clearing 11' 7 3/4". Laura Oh added second-place results for the Maroon and White in the shot put (40' 1 1/2") and discus (140' 5"). Blanchard registered the fourth-best attempt in the Patriot League this spring and the third-best in program history with her effort.

The Leopards are back in action next weekend, competing in both the Bison Open at Bucknell and the Greyhound Invitational at Moravian on Saturday.