Indoor Track Sweeps on Home Turf

Members of the Middlebury track and field team have been giving it their all during the past few weeks as they begin to prepare for upcoming championship meets.  During the Middlebury Invitational on Friday, Jan. 25 and Saturday, Jan. 26, both the men and women placed first among the competition.  The Panthers then had great performances during the Tufts Cupid Challenge on Saturday, Feb. 2.  The most recent meet was the non-scoring Fastrack National Invitational in Staten Island, New York, where the team yet again did its best against top opponents.

Gretchen McGrath ’21 stated, “I think that any time we get a chance to compete at a meet it helps us to get ready in a way that ordinary training doesn’t.  Even though the meet was “non-scoring,” we all were going 100 percent during the competition, which we don’t do in practice.... Meets also give us an opportunity to test ourselves and do our best under some pressure that can’t be simulated in practice.”

At the Fastrack National Invitational, there were several standout performances by the men.  In separate 400-meter finals, Arden Coleman ’20 was able to achieve eighth place while Jimmy Martinez ’19 got third.  Coleman had a time of 50.47 ,and Martinez had a time of 48.69.  In the mile finals, Jon Perlman ’19 had a time of 4:13.69 and Will Meyer ’20 had a time of 4:19.31.  They got fourth and ninth place, respectively.  In a separate mile finals, Theo Henderson ’20 placed eighth with a time of 4:22.36.  Minhaj Rahman ’19 also continued his strong season as he placed first in the weight-throw finals with a throw of 18.63 meters.

There were also some equally great performances by the women.  In the 400-meter finals, McGrath had a time of 59.83, which got her fourth place, and Lucy Lang ’19 had a time of 1:00.80, which got her ninth place.  Katelyn Pease ’22 came in fourth in the 800-meter finals with a time of 2:19.45.  In the same race, Emily Bulczynski ’22 had a time of 2:21.45, which allowed her to capture 11th place.  The women were also able to get fourth in the 4x400 relay as Lang, McGrath, Julia Munz ’22 and Ava O’Mara ’21 led the way with a time of 4:01.83.  In another strong performance, Cady Barns ’22 placed first in the triple-jump finals with a jump of 10.39 meters.

The team’s upcoming meet will be the Middlebury Team Challenge on Saturday, Feb. 16.  This meet will be further preparation, as the Division III New England Championships are right around the corner.

McGrath echoed this when she said, “It’s our last opportunity in individual events to improve to the point where we feel confident heading into New Englands the following weekend.... Relays ... give us a chance to synchronize working on handoffs and that kind of stuff.  It’ll be a good last meet here at home to get excited before New Englands.”

If the team continues on its current trajectory, it should be able to do very well during the next couple of weeks.

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