The track and field team competed in its annual dual meet against rival Lehigh University on Saturday. Despite several standout performances across the board, the Leopards ultimately fell to the Mountain Hawks, with the men dropping a narrow 92–89 decision and the women falling 120–61 at Rauch Fieldhouse.
“The dual meet against Lehigh is the only opportunity we have in track and field to go head-to-head against one other team,” senior Cole Chukoskie said. “Most track meets have several teams competing at the same time, so this meet is a really cool environment where it’s just them fighting for points out there.”
The men’s team delivered one of its strongest overall efforts in recent rivalry memory, pushing Lehigh until the final events of the meet. Junior Ivan Tejada highlighted the field events by launching a 53′ 3.75″ throw in the shot put, moving him to third all-time. Tejada placed second in both the shot put and weight throw (52′ 8.25”), while senior Liam Downey added a third-place finish in the shot put (46′ 10.25”).
Sophomore Kaseme Leckie finished second in the high jump (6’3.25”), and junior Andrew Harrison took second in the triple jump (44’9”). Senior Ben Hill secured one of the Leopards’ key victories in the pole vault (15’1”).
On the track, the Leopards’ depth was on full display. Freshman Hunter Parsons finished second in the 800-meter (1:54.15), good for No. 10 all-time at Lafayette.
“The level of talent in my race from both sides was very high,” he said. “That definitely pushed me to run the best that I could.”
Parsons said the team approached the rivalry meet with a heightened focus.
“As a freshman, it was like nothing I had experienced before,” Parsons said. “The atmosphere definitely helped push me to the max, knowing I had so many teammates cheering me on.”
Leckie picked up a win in the 60-meter (6.90), while junior Alexander Caba captured victories in both the 200 (22.30) and 400-meter (49.88). Senior J.P. Pfisterer won the 500-meter (1:05.15), and Chukoskie and senior Quinn Worrell earned wins in the mile (4:30.28) and 3,000-meter (8:34.71), respectively.
“We all knew it was going to be a tough battle,” he said. “I think the team had higher intentions in practice going into the meet.”
The men’s competition came down to the 4×800 relay, where the Leopards lost by 15 seconds to drop the meet.
“During my time here, I’ve never seen this meet be as close as it was,” Chukoskie said. “Losing a meet on the very last event is tough, but it just goes to show that our coaches aren’t joking when they say every point matters.”
On the women’s side, freshman Kennedy Miller claimed victory in the weight throw (48’6”) and finished second in the shot put (41′ 7.75”). On the track, seniors Elena Malone and Alexa LaSasso each placed second in the 500 (1:17.58) and 800 meters (2:16.75).
Junior Bridget O’Mara took third in the pole vault (11’3.75”), while freshman Madeline Dudley added another third-place finish in the high jump (5’1.25”). Sophomores Leah Rudolph and Anaya Brown also earned bronze themselves in the long jump (16’ 11.25”) and triple jump (34’ 7.5”), respectively.
The Leopards will return to action on Friday at the Scarlet Knights Open hosted by Rutgers University.