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Friday, Mar 29, 2024

XC Readies for NESCACs

<span class="photocreditinline">COURTESY PHOTO</span><br />The women’s cross country team placed first in the Connecticut College Invitational on Oct. 13.
COURTESY PHOTO
The women’s cross country team placed first in the Connecticut College Invitational on Oct. 13.

After weeks of anticipation and hard work, the NESCAC Championships are on the horizon for the men’s and women’s cross country teams.  The Panthers’ most recent meet was the Connecticut College Invitational on Saturday, Oct. 13.

At the meet, the men were able to obtain third place in a field of 27 teams.  They had a score of 96, while Amherst came in first with 72 points and Williams came in second with 76 points.  The top three runners for the Panthers were Matt D’Aquila ’21, who placed seventh, Theo Henderson ’20, who placed 10th and Henry Fleming ’20, who placed 15th.  D’Aquila finished in a time of 25:09.0, Henderson finished in 25:19.7 and Fleming finished in 25:23.4. 

“As a whole, both the women’s and men’s cross country teams did a great job at Conn,” Rory Kelly ’19 said of the Panthers’ performance at the meet. “The women’s team had a particularly strong day as we came away with the win, beating strong competition. I was overjoyed with my performance and even more so for our team win. It was a great day for us.”

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BENJY RENTON/THE MIDDLEBURY CAMPUS
Theo Henderson ’20 races at the Aldrich Invitational on Sept. 15.


With a score of 67, the women captured first place in a field of 25 teams. Kelly was the top runner for the Panthers, and she came in fourth place with a time of 21:38.2. Next up for the Panthers was Cassie Kearney ’22 with a time of 22:07.5 which got her seventh place. Then came Tasha Greene ’21 in 14th place with a time of 22:19.0.

“I think that going into the race, our strategy was to not be afraid to push ourselves and to trust in the training that has built us up to be this strong at this point in the season,” Kearney said when asked to describe the women’s race strategy. 

The Panthers will be competing in the NESCAC Championships on Saturday, Oct. 27 at Franklin Park in Boston.  If the team competes as hard as they always do, they should be able to make a statement at the championships.   

“We are very excited for NESCACs,” Kelly said. “This race is a major culmination point in our season. In terms of preparation, we are getting our bodies and minds rested and ready to throw down.”

Additionally, Kearney said, “I think collectively we share a really positive mindset going into NESCACs after last week’s win. We’re getting so much stronger each week, so I’m super excited to see how we do next Saturday at Franklin Park.”


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