Tyson Utesch didn’t always have a love for track and field. In fact, he didn’t find it until rather recently.

“I think I definitely found it was my passion at the beginning of junior year,” he said. “It started taking up a lot more of my time and I didn’t have a problem with that.”

The passion that Utesch has found has earned him a spot on the track and field team at Lehigh University as he signed a letter of commitment on Wednesday to continue both his athletic and academic careers as a Mountain Hawk.

Things such as the coaching staff were a draw for Utesch, but there was one other aspect of Lehigh that enticed him.

“They have the old gothic sort of buildings,” said Utesch. “I really liked the architecture and the feeling that the campus has.”

Other schools that Utesch considered were Monmouth, Mount St. Mary’s, Gettysburg and East Stroudsburg.

Utesch’s recruitment to these schools was something he found he had to take into his own hands due to the pandemic.

“A lot of sending your own emails instead of getting emails just because no sophomore results are a big thing,” Utesch said. “It definitely seemed like the recruiting process was super delayed.”

Although Utesch had to do some more reaching out than what might normally be required due to the loss of his sophomore season, his accomplishments still stood out.

Utesch finished 14th in the pole vault in districts as a freshman. Then last season he broke out as league champion in high jump and placed third in districts.

His athletic abilities go beyond that of the pole vault as well, as he competed in basketball for four years, golf and soccer this year and cross country his freshman year.

With one more season of track and field left at Salisbury, Utesch still has some goals for his high school career before he moves on to Lehigh,

“I look forward to going for a victory at districts and then also seeing if I can get a medal at states,” he said.