Panther Runners Compete in NYC Meet

On Friday, Jan. 16, the track teams traveled to New York City to run in the Gotham Cup at the historic Armory track. The meet featured top NCAA Division-I teams and professional athletes, giving the Panthers a chance to square off against some of the best athletes from around the country.

On the women’s side, Alex Morris ’16 made her season debut in the 400-meter dash after studying abroad in the fall in Uruguay, racing to a time of 61.20 seconds. Right behind her was first-year Kate McCluskey ’18, who finished in 61.27 seconds.

Morris, a two-time All-American and individual NCAA qualifier in the 400 meters, commented on her first race back.

“I didn’t really have many expectations for this race,” she said. “For me, it was a way to start getting back to the level I was last year and almost try to race myself back into shape. It was helpful not just physically, but mentally as well because now I know where I am and can only move forward.”

“Practice has definitely been a reality check,” Morris said. “I tried to keep up with the workouts as much as possible when I was abroad, but life often got in the way. There’s not a feeling I love more though than really training hard and feeling like I’m making progress. I’m most excited to be back and see where the rest of the season goes.”

In other sprinting events, Paige Fernandez  ’17 and Perri Silverhart  ’16 both competed in the 500 meters, finishing in 1:19.86 and 1:22.23 respectively. Gigi Miller ’18 was Middlebury’s top finisher in the women’s 60 meters, crossing the line in 8.65 seconds.

A small contingent of distance runners made their season debuts in New York as well. Most notably, Sasha Whittle ’17 competed in the mile, running 5:23.99 while winning her heat by more than 10 seconds. In the field, Maddie Pronovost ’17 had her second good meet in a row, jumping 4 feet 11 inches in the high jump and a personal record 16 feet 10.75 inches in the long jump.

For the men, Will Bain ’15 led the sprinters in the 60-meter dash, running 7.19 seconds — slightly off his mark of 7.15 from the previous week. Captain Fritz Parker ’15 cut more than a second off his 400-meter time from the previous week, finishing the dastardly distance in 51.58 seconds.

The men also had distance runners make their debuts in New York. Wilder Schaaf  ’14.5 opened his season in the mile with a run of 4:23.29. Schaaf, an NCAA qualifier in the event with his personal best of 4:10.98, started his season last year by running 4:30, so his improved result is indicative of more fast times to come later in the season. Accompanying Schaaf in the mile was Panther assistant coach Jack Davies ’13, who took a fourth-place finish in 4:14.08, continuing his trend of never losing a race to Schaaf. Luke Carpinello ’16 just broke the two-minute mark in the 800 meters, running 1:59.73.

The teams were originally scheduled to host Virtue Field House’s inaugural meet on Friday, Jan. 23, but construction delays have led to the meet’s cancellation. The teams will take the weekend off from competition before hosting the Middlebury Invitational on Jan. 31, which will take the place of the cancelled meet as the inaugural competition in the new indoor track facility.