Indoor Track and Field Breaks Several School Records

Although the men’s and women’s latest meet at Tufts was cancelled due to complications from winter storm Nemo, the team had ample opportunities to improve in both the Terrier Classic at Boston University on Jan. 25 and Jan. 26 and at Dartmouth on Feb. 2.

Middlebury traveled to Boston University to compete against teams from Division I, II and III including Harvard, Yale, University of Rhode Island and University of Albany. Both the women and the men distinguished themselves despite the tough competition.

The women’s distance medley relay team of Addie Tousley ’13, Juliet Ryan-Davis ’13, Sarah O’Brien ’13 and Alexandra Morris ’16 placed an impressive third, finishing behind only teams from University of Albany and Monmouth University. Their time of 11:52.95 placed them first within Division III. On the men’s side Jack Davies ’13 had an impressive race in the 5,000-meter, finishing fifth with a time of 14:31.31.

The following weekend the teams traveled to Dartmouth to start off the February recess strong against teams such as the Naval Academy, Dartmouth, Bentley University and RPI. Despite the size of the competition, the College stood out as Bryan Holtzman’ 14 and Will Bain ’15 finished in the top eight in the 60-meter dash. While Bain finished seventh overall with a time of 7.24 seconds,

Holtzman placed fourth overall, breaking his own school record in the preliminaries with a time of 7.09 seconds.

“Breaking the record was nice because it meant that I did better than I ever had before,” said Holtzman. “It left a little bit of a sour taste in my mouth though because I did it in the preliminary round and then ran slower in the final — ideally, I improve in each progressive round in a day, but I can’t complain about a PR.”

This was not his first school record this season as Holtzman continues to improve looking forward.

“I’d like to place highly at Division III New Englands this weekend,” said Holtzman.  After that, my goal is to run as fast as I can and possibly qualify for NCAAs.”

Kevin Chu ’14 also had an impressive day clinching a third-place finish in the 60-meter hurdles in a time of 8.32 seconds, setting another school record.

The men’s sprinters continued to prove their strength as both Fritz Parker ’15 and Louis Cornacchione ’13 placed third in the 200-meter and 500-meter dashes, respectively.

The team’s depth became evident in the 800-meter run as four Middlebury runners placed in the top eight spots. Wilder Schaaf ’14 ran to a third place finish for the Panthers while Peter Hetzler ’14, Samuel Cartwright ’16 and Gilbert Kipkorir ’16 placed sixth, seventh and eighth place, respectively.

The team continued its strong all-around performance, as five of the top-10 athletes in the mile run were Panthers. Davies placed second finishing with a time of 4:16.04. Schaaf and Anthony Lee ’13 finished close behind in third and fourth place, respectively. Davies also finished second in the 3,000 meter run in a time of 8:41.95.

It was not just the men’s side that had success at the meet, as the women’s side set a new school record and boasted several second-place finishes. First-year Lauren Henry ’16 set a new school record in just the fourth race of her career in the 60-meter dash with a fifth place finish in a time of 8.05 seconds. Distance runners Addie Tousley ’13 and Katherine Tercek ’16 earned second place finishes in the mile and the 3,000-meter run, respectively. In the field events, Emma McGuirk ’15 also finished second in the triple jump, reaching the 10.42-meter mark.

The team also had several third-place finishes, demonstrating the depth of the women’s side. Allison Maxwell ’15 ran a 2:18.12 in the 800-meter run, while Chelsea Montello ’16 jumped to 4.86 meters in the long jump.

Next up for the team are New Englands, which will occur at Bates this coming weekend Feb. 15 and 16. For those who qualify, Open New Englands follow the next weekend. The indoor season will end for all indoor track and field athletes after NCAA Championships on March 8 and 9. The spring season will then begin just two weeks later during the team’s training trip in San Diego at Point Loma Nazarene.