LEHIGH2018 / 19 ATHLETICS ANNUAL REPORT MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN OF ATHLETICS hese are interesting times in college athletics, in way” for our athletics higher education and in our society. While “change” program. While there Contents has always been a constant, historically the pace of may be many options to change in higher education and in athletics has been consider, one pathway slower than in other sectors. However, this is a new involves choosing 2 Celebrating Champions era! Quite simply, higher education is being driven to pursue the higher 4 Academic Success Tto change in order to meet the needs of an evolving population. profile that comes from And college athletics is being driven to change by unprecedented competing successfully 6 Mountain Hawk Standouts intrusions from legislators, talent markets that are smaller and against the very best competitive expectations that are lofty and often impatient. teams and individuals. An alternate pathway tests the ability to 10 Student-Athlete Stories balance firm convictions about the importance of our educational 12 Flight 45: Leadership Rebranded The changes in higher education, and at Lehigh, probably feel and developmental mission in athletics, with the undeniable exis- pretty significant to many of our alumni, and may leave some tence of some level of expectation for demonstrating effectiveness 14 Recognizing Distinction feeling a bit uncertain about their alma mater. In comparison, the both in athletics competition and in the increasingly competitive 16 Milestones & Moving On changes in college athletics have probably felt less dramatic. The world of attracting and retaining talent (coach-educators, staff and rules of sport are regularly tweaked but rarely overhauled. In fact, scholar-athletes). Both pathways require significant annual invest- 18 Sustaining Excellence the elements of sport that are fundamental to competition have ments and sustainable sources of future investment. As a result, not changed much at all. The size of playing fields, courts, lanes or any choice we make about our future will test the strengths of our 20 Campus Athletics other competition spaces are essentially the same, as are the num- personal and institutional convictions about sustaining, enhancing 22 Corporate Engagements bers of players on teams and the basic playing rules. Moreover, the and preserving all that we believe to be meaningful about the col- basic experience stands upon a foundation of longstanding, simple lege athletics experience. 24 Facilities Improvements and unchanging principles: scoreboards tell us there are winners 26 The Honor Roll and losers; the time available for purposeful action is finite and not The GO Campaign challenges all of us to invest in the areas of the negotiable; and athletes still must confront and learn to deal with university that we believe are worthy of sustaining, enhancing and adversity, including occasionally, the harsh judgment of others. preserving. For Athletics, the campaign priorities are simple: (1) Competition in its most basic form is an absolute metric (we win or We must grow our base of annual support to enable us to sustain we lose) about which rationalizing or interpretation creates interest the programs we now offer at a level of quality that is consistent but does not change the competitive result. In that simplicity there with our expectations and our educational obligations; (2) We is clarity of purpose and in the process of competing to win, there must continue to invest in our physical plant in ways that preserve is an amazing opportunity for learning, personal growth, and useful and optimize the utility of those spaces; and (3) We must identify preparation for life after college or after sport. Those who have permanent sources of support for athletics through the expansion competed know this to be true, for the essence of competition has of our endowment base. not changed much over generations of time. Change is hard, just as is learning, personal growth and meaningful At Lehigh, we have long embraced the virtues of competition. We competition. At Lehigh, we have chosen to compete without sacri- also have affirmed our collective belief in the educational value of ficing our core educational and developmental mission. Our choice sports, teams and in striving to win. We have taken pride in facing requires a complete team effort in order to succeed. I’m proud of larger or more substantially resourced opponents, and we have our team and confident in our future. celebrated those occasions of perceived “overachievement” by our teams or individuals. The Lehigh Athletics program has earned As you review the pages that follow, our hope is your faith in the respect and appreciation as a meaningful part of the educational work of our staff and our student-athletes will be affirmed and your experience for the students who engage in it. Thankfully, the pro- willingness to sustain and enhance your investment as part of the gram also has earned the trust of those many alumni and friends GO Campaign will be inspired. who have chosen to invest in it. With gratitude and appreciation, Now, in the midst of a time of significant and more accelerated change in higher education and in Division I college sports, we find ourselves confronted by a different set of competitive realities, and the challenge of choosing wisely the direction and “path- Joe Sterrett ‘76 Murray H. Goodman Dean of Athletics 1 Celebrating Sometimes, the sequel is even sweeter than the original. Powered by a total team effort, the wrestling team battled through a competitive team race to claim its second straight EIWA championship in March at Binghamton’s Events Center. CHAMPIONS The Mountain Hawks trailed Cornell by 20 points at one point but came back to win a conference-best 36th overall Nearly a dozen Mountain Hawk crown. Lehigh was led by three individual champions: Josh student-athletes can call themselves Humphreys ’22 (157 pounds), Jordan Kutler ’20 (174), and the best in their individual disciplines Jordan Wood ’21 (285). Ann Foley ‘21 WOMEN’S SWIMMING following the 2018-19 seasons. Several other Lehigh athletes won individual crowns as well. In Their achievements, along with the pool, Ann Foley ’21 won her first career individual Patriot the conference title-winning wrestling League title in the 50-yard freestyle, with a time of 22.94. team and relay teams in track and She was also a part of the conference title-winning 200-yard swimming, proved once again that freestyle relay team that included Payton Miles ’20, Olivia Lehigh is a place where athletic Giampietro ’21, and Courtney Ferreira ’19. accomplishment thrives. In indoor track, the 4x800 relay team of Mary Casey ’20, Sophie Antonioli ’20, Jade Sessions ’22, and Clare Severe ’19 earned a first place finish with a time of 8:48.80, good for a Patriot League Championship meet record. Brittany Curtin ’21 earned a first place finish in the weight throw, throwing 18.29 meters. High jumper Jordan Otto ’20 won the league title for her 1.70 meter leap. Kyle Berman ’19 won the men’s Brittany Curtin ‘21 1,000-meter title with a time of 2:26.43. WOMEN’S TRACK & FIELD Outdoors, Stacie Nadel ’19 won her first championship in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, finishing the event with a time of 10:40.63. Curtin won the discus title, which she also took home last season. Sean Brown ’21 earned his first career Patriot League title for his 3:45.72 performance in the 1,500- meter. Brown’s time broke the school record of 3:46.33. Jordan Kutler ‘20 WRESTLING Sean Brown ‘21 MEN’S TRACK & FIELD 2 3 Last year, Conor Gaffney ’20 became Lehigh’s first lacrosse Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year since 2011. This year, Hannah Hedstrom he made it two in a row. A ’20 was one of double major in mechanical just two Patriot engineering and finance, League women’s Gaffney is only the fifth Harrison Kauffman basketball players two-time Scholar-Athlete ’19 racked up nearly as on the Google Cloud of the Year honoree in many academic awards CoSIDA Academic Patriot League men’s as tackles. Last season, All-District 2 Team. Year after year Lehigh student-athletes demonstrate their lacrosse history. Gaffney is the co-captain and team A three-year starter, intelligence and focus by racking up academic accolades. now a two-time first team leader added Academic the biology major While this year is no exception—Lehigh had 30 Academic All- All-League honoree as All-Patriot League honors holds a cumulative well, winning 2019 Patriot and a spot on the Patriot League honorees and 112 members of the Academic GPA of 3.96. League Faceoff Specialist of Football Championship Honor Roll through the fall semester—it is worth noting that the Year. Subdivision Athletics every Mountain Hawk team posted a team GPA of 3.0 or Directors Association higher during the spring semester. Academic All-Star Team to his resume. ACADEMIC For the second SUCCESS straight season, Lehigh volleyball setter Megan Polak ’19 was named to the Reagan Jahn ’19 Google Cloud CoSIDA undoubtedly has aced more Academic All-District tests than par threes. But 2 Team. A behavioral the three-time member neuroscience major of the Patriot League who minored in Academic Honor Roll is Hispanic studies, she equally accomplished on earned a cumulative The GPA of Seth Slavin the golf course, where 3.95 GPA. ’21 speaks for itself. The she earned her third cross country and track All-Patriot League honor runner holds a 4.0 GPA with an eighth place finish through four semesters in at the Patriot League Jordan Cohen ’20, Lehigh’s rigorous electrical Championship. A supply who earned a 3.65 engineering program.