XC Meets at Lehigh

A Student Assistant’s Day in Special Collections:  XC Meets
By: Nick Hirdt, Class of 2017

Lehigh’s Athletics Program thrives off its athletes’ dedication to succeed in the classroom and on the playing field.  Our athletes are motivated by the great sense of school spirit and the famous Lehigh Lafayette Rivalry.  When looking at our athletic program today it is often easy to forget the student athletes who once wore the brown and white uniform and helped establish the great rivalry and tradition that is existent today.

While browsing the Special Collections Digital Brown and White archive, I stumbled upon a mass of old articles on Lehigh Sports containing a wealth of information on Lehigh Athletics history.  As a member of the XC (Cross Country) Team, I searched for and found several articles on the team from year past, containing recaps of competitions, meet results and interviews.  I was able to read a meet recap from the first race ever on the course we currently use, which took place back in 1974.  I also read about the first time the team raced in the Patriot League Championship in 1990.  In addition, I was able to read several articles on John Covert a retired cross country coach, after which one of our track meets is named.

I looked up several of our course record holders names in order to read articles on them from when they went to Lehigh. Reading these articles gave me an appreciation for the past members of the cross country team and the history behind of athletics department.  I highly suggest any athletes and sports fans at Lehigh to look at the Special Collections Digital Brown and White Archive to browse through old sports articles and learn about Lehigh’s rich athletics history.