Panther runners compete despite bad weather

The Middlebury track and field Team managed to shake off the disappointment of its only home meet being postponed due to bad weather and come up with impressive performances at the Larry Ellis Invitational at Princeton University on Friday night. By the end of the meet, four school records had been broken and seven athletes had qualified for NCAA Championships.
Junior Margo Cramer  ’12 broke the school record and set a new NESCAC record in the 1500m, with a time of 4:27.85; Middlebury’s previous record time in that event stood for 32 years before Cramer broke it Friday. Amanda Lee ’11 also broke the school record in the 3000m steeplechase, qualifying for NCAA Championships in the process.
Following the lead of their female teammates, Jack Davies ’13 and Michael Schmidt ‘12 also broke school records and qualified for NCAAs, with Davies giving an impressive performance in the 3000m steeplechase and Schmidt coming up with a time of 14:17.15 in the 5000m race. Schmidt attributed his success to the team’s momentum on Friday night, saying, “I raced in the last event, so I got to see everyone else run really well; it’s motivating to see all your teammates crush it race after race and also puts a little pressure on you to keep the fast times coming.”
He continued, “Princeton is an exciting meet because it’s at night, under the lights, and has great competition, so the energy is high and we go in ready to run fast and hope for PRs.”
The team certainly showed up ready to go at Princeton; in addition to breaking the four school records, three other runners qualified for NCAA Championships. Erin Toner ’11 qualified for NCAAs in the 1500m, Addie Tousley ’13 qualified in the 5000m, and Juliet Ryan-Davis ‘13 qualified in the 800.
In addition to qualifying for NCAA Championships, Ryan-Davis was also named NESCAC Performer of the Week. Following up on a strong winter season, Ryan-Davis has had an excellent season thus far this spring.
“My success is because of such a great training group--I’ve trained with both the sprints group, coached by Martin Beatty, and the distance group, coached by Nicole Wilkerson,” said Ryan-Davis.
The Middlebury track and field team’s biggest test will come this weekend at the NESCAC championships at Wesleyan. Middlebury track and field remains in its strongest position in years to take home the NESCAC title.