Cross-Country to Maintain Record Pace

Author: Mike Mazzotta and Mike Kirkland

This past weekend, the Middlebury cross country team kick started its season with a scrimmage against Williams in a coed relay on the Middlebury college home course. The program, strengthened by a new attitude and work ethic, debuted its new talent and saw promising results.
This season, the two-time defending national champion women's cross country team returns five of the seven women who ran at last year's NCAA Championship. They are led by senior co-captains, Michela Adrian and Krista Evans, who are supported by a strong veteran squad, including Kaitlin Gregg '03, Sarah Logan '03, Jess Manzer '05 and Molly Yazwinski '04. Adrian, Manzer and Yazwinski shared All-American honors last season.
Furthermore, coaches Terry Aldrich and Nicole Wilkerson have done a tremendous job recruiting new talent in the offseason. Claire Anderson, Jenny Jorvig, Kelsey Rinehart, Nora Segar, and Amber Trotter represent one of the strongest first-year classes in recent years. With the return of healthy veterans and the arrival of the first-years, the squad is optimistic at the start of the new season.
The men's program has been reborn this season under the guidance of their coaches and a devoted group of upperclassmen. Starting with a new intensity and focus, the men plan to turn some heads this season. They are led by co-captains Michael Kirkland '03.5 and Mike Mazzotta '03, and will return six of their top seven runners from last season. Mazzotta, Jakub Benes '04, Morgan Byrne '05, Nick Digani '05, Marshall Greene '04, and Mike Romankiewicz '03 all ran at the NCAA qualifiers last season.
Coaches Aldrich and Wilkerson drafted Mike "Jersey Joe" Accordino, Tom Icard, Garrott Kuzzy, Charlie Logan and Nolan Sandygren in the first round of the 2002 Division III Cross Country Draft. After hearing the results, Chris Eberly '04 was euphoric on draft night, "Kuzzy! Icard! The list goes on and on! What an unprecedented draft, I haven't seen anything like this since '93!" Runners from both squads shared similar sentiments over their coach's picks, suggesting that this year's crop of first-years could be a force to be reckoned with.
This weekend, the cross country program will host the annual Panther Invitational on Saturday at the home course. The race will begin at 1pm. As it is the first and only home race of the season, the Panthers are sure to run in front of a wild and boisterous group of cross country fanatics.