By Mick Kowaleski ‘14

For the second week in a row, the women of the Lafayette track and field team outdid their male counterparts.

The women edged out their rival Mountain Hawks in the annual Lafayette-Lehigh Dual Meet 102-101 while the men fell 119-84.

Junior Rachel Pena led the way for the Leopard women, placing first in both the hammer throw and shot put. The hammer throw of 188’8” stands as her personal best, made the ECAC-qualifying standards and also is the best hammer toss in the Patriot League this season. Her shot put of 42’7” also qualifies as a personal best outdoors, and she placed third in the discus (117’3”). Pena earned the Patriot League Female Field Athlete of the Week award for her performance.

Freshman star Devin Smith once again played an integral role in the Leopard efforts, grabbing a victory in both the 200-meter and 400-meter sprints. She also anchored the winning 4×100 and 4×400-meter relay teams. She was granted an Honorable Mention in the Patriot League Track and Field Weekly Awards for her efforts.

Fellow freshmen Erin Keen was also an integral part of those relays, and also took first in the 100-meter sprint while finishing second to Smith in the 200-meter.

Elise Buffinton ‘14 continued her stellar season, winning the high jump and qualifying for the ECACs with a jump of 12’3.5”.

Lehigh’s sophomore Serenah Polite was named the Mountain Hawk athlete of the meet. She won the long jump (5.36 meters) and triple jump (11.59), but it wasn’t enough to outdo the Leopards.

The women’s success did not carry over to the men. Besides wins in the 400-meter hurdles, 4x400m relay, long jump, triple jump, and javelin, the men fell by over 30 points. Bill Leonard ‘14, Jarrel Bobb ‘16, Nick Orzol ‘13, and Chris Luna ‘14 all grabbed individual victories for the Leopard men. Neil Franzese ‘14, Nick Hepp ‘13 assisted Leonard and McVeigh in a 4x400m relay victory.

The Mountain Hawks, however,  produced six individual winners of their own and  came out on top in the 4×100 meter relay team event. Lehigh junior Sam Bernitt narrowly defeated Lafayette’s Chris Parker 13 in the 1,500-meter run. Bernitt ran a 3:55.46, which was a mere .31 seconds ahead of Parker’s 3:55.77 time.

The Leopards will compete next in the Moravian College Coach P Open at Bethlehem on Saturday. Events begin at 10 a.m.