Track and Field Dominates Competition in Home Invite

The men’s and women’s track and field teams hosted the Middlebury Invitational on Saturday, April 20 at the Dragone Track.  The Panthers competed against University of Vermont, Plattsburgh St. and the women of Colby-Sawyer.

Both teams won their respective competitions handily, winning a total of 25 out of 35 events.  The women scored 89 of a possible 173 points, while the men captured 116 points.

On the men’s side, the Panthers dominated the field events. Daniel Plunkett ’16 scored several points for the team, winning both the shot put and hammer throw. Fellow first-year Ian Riley ’16 was the top collegiate javelin thrower at the meet.  Several of the team’s jumpers also had standout meets.  Deklan Robinson ’16 placed first in the long jump and second in the high jump.  Meanwhile, Patrick Rooney ’13 won the triple jump, and Jason McCallum ’14 was victorious in the pole vault.

The men’s team’s outstanding showing continued through the running events as Bryan Holtzman ’14 led the pack with a win the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.81, matching the Dragone Track record. Patrick Hebble ’13, Sam Cartwright ’16 and Sebastian Matt ’16 captured the first three spots in the 1,500-meter run.  Luke Carpinello ’16 won the 800-meter run, while Sam Craft ’14 came in second just after fellow Middlebury runner to Nick Spencer ’15 in the 400-meter dash. Louis Cornacchione ’13 won the 400-meter hurdles, while Stuart Fram ’13 won the 110-meter hurdles.

On the women’s side, the competition was equally impressive. Carly Andersen ’16 continued her impressive season by winning the women’s javelin throw. Emily Dodge ’13 was first in the triple jump. Grace Doering ’13 put up the best high jump.  Jackie Kearney ’16 led the pack in both the 400 meter and 100-meter hurdles to continue the Panther winning streak.

After finishing an impressive indoor season, Juliet Ryan-Davis ’13 continues to break school records as she ran the women’s 800 meter in 2:11.82, setting a new Dragone record.  Ryan-Davis’s fellow DMR relay team member, Alexandra Morris ’16 finished first in both the women’s 400-meter dash and 200-meter dash,  taking the top spot in both spring events while, Chelsea Montello ’16 placed first in the women’s 100-meter dash to complete the women’s sprint dominance.

Tri-captain Kara Walker ’13 bested the competition in the long jump with a 5.16 meter jump, before competing in the women’s 4x100-meter relay alongside Emma McGuirk ’14, Lauren Henry ’16 and Chelsea Montello ’16. The four bested the relay teams from Plattsburgh and Colby-Sawyer by over a second with a time of 52.12.

“The weather was pretty unfavorable on Saturday,” said Walker. “So being able to complete smooth handoffs and run a good race against the wind is definitely a confidence booster looking ahead [to NESCACs].”

Looking ahead to next week, Walker continued, “Our team lives for NESCACs. Until now, it’s basically every man for himself, but at this meet we truly came together as a team. Every performance and every point counts.  Both the men’s and women’s teams have a great shot at winning this year, so there’s a lot of buzz and excitement, but we’re all trying to rest up and save our energy for when we need it most. We are very ready, and I think we can expect some big performances.”

Jack Davies ’13 may not have competed at Middlebury this weekend, but he did not take the weekend off, instead traveling to Princeton to compete in the Larry Ellis Invitational at Princeton on Friday, April 19.  There Davies ran the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 8:52.08, a personal best by two seconds, breaking his own school outdoor record by over nine seconds and earning himself the honor of being ranked the top racer at the Division III level in that event.  Additionally, Davies’ record time clocks in as the 10th best all-time in Division III.

“It was a great race for Jack,” said distance coach Nicole Wilkerson. “It was just a good opportunity for him to race the steeple. He ran strong and pulled away with 1,000 meters to go, and won by a good 15 meters.  He ran strong and looked good, and will look to break 8:50 over the next few weeks.”

The men and women’s teams will gear up this week in preparation for the April 27 NESCAC championships at Tufts University.