Instead of the jingling of bells, it was the jingling of medals that could be heard all the way home from Lehigh University after the Patriots competed in the annual Robert J Burdette Indoor Classic on Wednesday, December 29^th.

The highest medal came in the final, and most exciting, race of the day: the 4x400-meter relay. Senior Evan Clark finished strong in his leadoff leg (54.10) to hand off in second place when senior Nik Ventura made his season debut in the event with a 57.35 and kept the team in the top three. Then, senior Jack Steitz ran a smart race to pass a runner on the second lap and clock a 54.55 to get the team back to second. Senior Patrick Kleemeier was a determined runner as he charged ahead and closed a 20-meter gap to overcome the leader at the finish line with a personal best of 54.22. The team won the gold with a 3:40.22 and earned their way into the Meet of Champions.

The team found success in the medleys as well. In the Sprint Medley Relay, Clark fulfilled the role of leadoff well with a 400 of 53.95. Ventura then ran a 25.11 before executing a beautiful handoff to junior Nick Ginaldi who secured a personal best of 24.82 with his 200 serving as the third leg of the relay. As the 800-anchor-leg, junior Josh Daniels held off two runners in the final 50 meters to run a personal best of 2:11.04 and help the team secure a bronze medal. The Distance Medley Relay earned bronze as well. Kleemeier got it started with a personal best of 3:37.40. Next up, Steitz ran a 55.45 in the 400 and junior Joe Sims ran a personal best of 2:10.98 in the 800. The best performance of the relay came from junior anchor James Sexton who kept his eye on the top teams and used them to pull himself to a personal best of 4:52.99 in the 1600.

Individually, Clark and Steitz completed the trifecta with medals in their perspective jumping events. Clark earned silver with a clearance of 11’3” in the pole vault while Steitz earned a fifth-place medal with another clearance of 5’6” in the high jump; just missing 5’8” in the process.

The 4x800-meter relay had a strong performance as well. Senior Matt Saks (personal best of 2:23.46), senior Luke Gormley (2:26.03), freshman Jack Kille (2:25.26), and senior Cole Kochan (personal best of 2:19.06) battled a competitive field to finish sixth overall.

All in all, the team earned five medals, nine personal bests, and seven top ten finishes.