Cross country teams qualify for NCAAs

Coach Terry Aldrich put it best when  he said that the Panthers had “the most historic weekend for the Middlebury Cross Country team in the program’s history.” The teams raced at Williams in the NCAA regional meet for New England schools with an eye on qualifying for the Division III NCAA finals. For the 15th straight year, the women’s team will be headed to NCAA finals, and for the first time in the history of the cross country team, the men’s team will be joining them in Iowa.
The women’s team won by an incredible 33 points, taking down Williams and Amherst. Leading the top seven Panthers was Collete Whitney ’14 in fifth place with a time of 22:29. Close behind her was Addie Tousley ’13 in seventh (22:41), followed by Claire McIlvennie ’12 in 13th (22:51.0), Margo Cramer ’12 in 14th (22:51.4), Hannah Meier ’12 in 19th (22:58), and Amanda Lee ’11 in 48th (23:49). Freshman Maddie Hubbell finished 57th with a time of 24:04, rounding out the top seven women finishers. The women’s team’s victory was especially remarkable considering the physical obstacles that some of the top finishers overcame to lead their team to first. Aldrich was proud of their perseverance.
“The mark of any great team is how they respond to adversity,” said Aldrich. “Maddie Hubbell ’14 experienced dehydration and struggled in to the finish, well below her normal placing. Tousley was racing in her first race since being cleared to run following a bout with mono. The entire women’s team showed their determination and stepped up and did what they needed to do to finish first and advance to the NCAA Championships.”
The men’s team squeaked past Bates and Wesleyan by five points to earn their place in history. The top seven men were led by Michael Schmidt ’12 who won the entire race with a time of 25:40, followed by Jack Terrett ’11 in eighth place with a time of 26:05.4, Jack Davies ’13 in 27th (26:28), Taylor Sundali ’13 in 45th (26:54), Greg Krathwohl ’14 in 64th (27:11), Nate Sans ’14 in 78th (27:25) and Sam Miller ’12 in 183rd (29:22). Aldrich was thrilled about the men’s team qualifying for the NCAA finals, and praised their effort.
“Jack Terrett had a phenomenal race,” said Aldrich. “Taylor Sundali had his best race of the season and emerged as Middlebury’s fourth scorer in a very respectable 45th place.” Schmidt was honored as the NESCAC Performer of the Week for the second time this year for his NCAA regional race. He also made Middlebury history with that win.
“Michael Schmidt’s victory was the first by a male student-athlete in the school’s history,” said Aldrich. “Michael’s race was one of the most impressive performances I have ever witnessed as a Middlebury coach as he out-kicked the entire field of 333 runners including second-place Kenyan-born Josephat Loima from Williams.”
Up next is NCAAs, and Aldrich expressed excitement for his teams’ chances.
“The team has a tremendous amount of momentum and confidence and are very excited to test themselves against the best in the country in Iowa,” said Aldrich.Middlebury will travel to Watenburg this weekend to compete in the Division III NCAA championship race.