Track Teams Hit Early-Season Stride

Like several other spring sports teams, the Middlebury track team began its outdoor schedule over Spring Break with two meets at Point Loma Nazarene University in San Diego, CA, competing against a variety of West Coast schools in a pair of meets. Upon returning to the Northeast, the Panthers continued their season on Saturday, April 5 in a dual meet at Springfield, handing in a decisive victory on both the men’s and women’s sides.

The first meet at Point Loma, the Ross and Sharon Irwin Meet, on March 22, brought an exciting start to the season when Lauren Pincus ’14 broke the school record in the javelin, a mark that had stood for thirteen years. Pincus’s toss of 140’ 9”, good for a second place finish in the event, beat out the existing mark of 139’ 11”.

“I took last year off to recover from elbow reconstructive surgery, so my main goal for the season was to successfully return to competing for the team,” Pincus said of her season. “I was surprised and thrilled when I realized I had broken the school record. It was the ideal way to start the season. It is extremely difficult to obtain those sorts of long distance throws in cold and windy Vermont, so it was important to me to take advantage of the warm California weather and get a distance that would hopefully qualify me for NCAAs. I’m excited to keep improving throughout the season, and hopefully break my own record a few more times.”

Other standouts for the Panthers included the trio of top-five finishes in the 1500 meters from Erzsie Nagy ’17, Alison Maxwell ’15 and Summer Spillane ’15, who took second, third and fourth, respectively.

For the men, Wilder Schaaf ’14.5 took home the victory in the 1500 meters, where he ran a time of 3:54.78, while Jake Wood ’15 took second in the 400 hurdles in 55.87 and Kevin Chu ’14 took fourth in the 110 hurdles in 15.48.

The following Saturday, Mar. 29, the Panthers were back in action at the Point Loma Invitational. On the men’s side, Schaaf once again turned in a solid performance, taking second in the 800 meters in a time of 1:55.53, Wood saw another successful weekend in the 400 hurdles when he crossed the line in first with a time of 55.21.

In the field events, Jason McCallum ’14 took home the victory in the pole vault with his mark of 14’ 11”, also taking second on the track with a time of 10.98 in the 100 meters.

Kevin Wood ’15 also produced a decisive victory on a day that brought many high finishes for the Panther squad, winning the 5,000 meters with a time of 14:54.16.

On the women’s side, Hannah Blackburn ’17 finished with a trio of top five results on the day, taking third in both the long and triple jumps and fourth in the 100 hurdles. Spillane took second in the 3000-meter steeplechase with a time of 11:15.82, with Panther teammates behind her in third, fourth and fifth.

Not to be outdone, Pincus followed up her record-breaking performance with a win in the javelin, posting a mark of 135’ 7”.

“I think that there were a lot of really strong performances at the California meets,” Pincus said of both meets at Point Loma. “It is a very tough week training-wise, with practice twice a day, and difficult workouts. The combination of the travel and the hard training makes these meets especially challenging, so I was impressed with the team’s distances, heights and times.”

On Saturday April 5, the Panthers took to the track and field at Springfield in an entirely different climate, battling a cold and windy afternoon as they went head-to-head with the host Pride. Despite the less-than-optimal conditions at Springfield, several competitors on both the men’s and women’s side turned in fast times, big throws and stellar jump marks.

On the women’s side, the day brought an impressive 17 victories in 19 contested events. Blackburn continued her season with three victories on the day, running 15.43 for the 100 hurdles and jumping 35’ 1.75” in the triple jump and 17’5” in long jump.

“I was really happy with my [personal best mark] in the long jump at Point Loma, but my favorite result was this past weekend’s 100m hurdles race,” Blackburn said. “The hurdles is my favorite event and that was the first time it felt really natural and fluid this season.”

Other victories included Maxwell’s performance in the 5,000 meters where she ran a time of 17:52.20 and Lauren Henry’s ’16 12.92 performance in the 100-meter dash. All in all, the women beat the Pride with a final total of 125-70.

The Panther men were victorious in 11 events, totaling a final score of 100 compared to Springfield’s 85. Event winners included McCallum in the pole vault with a mark of 15’ 1”, veteran Bryan Holtzman ’14 in the 100 meters in 11.03, first-year sprint standout Alex Nichols ’17 in the 200 meters in 22.84 and Sam Klockenkemper ’17 in the steeplechase in 10:18. Jake Wood ’15 continued his dominance in the 400-meter hurdles, crossing the finish line first in a time of 55.91.

“The team performed really well overall at Springfield,” Blackburn said. “It was a hard day because of the cold and the wind, but we still managed to compete at a high level.”

In the eyes of Head Coach Martin Beatty, one of the highlights from the meet at Springfield was his team’s performance in relay events, in which they defeated the host Pride in both races on both the men’s and women’s side.

“I like the way the team is looking,” head coach Martin Beatty said of the start to the season. “Both the men’s team and the women’s team are strong, and it’s exciting to be back outside.”

The Panthers return to action on Saturday, April 12 at West Point, where they will match up with strong Division-I and III competition. After a final tuneup the following weekend at the University of Albany, Middlebury will travel to Colby on April 26 for the NESCAC championships, the focal point of the Panthers’ regular season.

For those who qualify, the season then includes a slew of championship meets, culminating in the NCAA championships on the final weekend of May.