Cross-Country Teams Capture Vermont State Titles

Author: Mike Mazzotta

On an ominous Friday afternoon, the Middlebury cross country team traveled to the Champlain Valley Fairgrounds to put on an exposition of its own. The women repeated as perennial state champions, while the men reclaimed the title after lending it to Lyndon State for safekeeping last October. In the immortal words of coach Terry Aldrich, it truly was "a great day to be a Panther."
The women swept the meet taking the top seven spots. Senior co-captain Michela Adrian led the way for the Panthers, winning the state championship in a time of 17:44. Jess Manzer '05 led the "Middlebury All-stars" chase pack behind Adrian with the support of Molly Yazwinski '04, Marissa Cawley '05, Nora Segar '06, Kelsey Rinehart '06 and Jordan MacClary '05. Senior Melissa Cohen captured the ninth spot overall to ensure eight Panthers finishing in the top 10.
The race results prove just how fast the women's team ran; eight of the Panthers finished under 20 minutes and five more finished under 21 minutes. Nick Stephanopolus Yim '03 was thrilled with the Panthers' performance. "As the Panthers descended upon the finish line, they resembled a blue swarm of locusts ravaging the wheat fields and conquering the corn in the Great Plains of Iowa," he said.
In the men's race, the Panthers would not disappoint their coaches or captains, who wanted nothing less than a dominating performance. The men took the state championship, finishing with eight out of the top nine runners in the race. Garrot Kuzzy '06 once again led the way for the blue and white, finishing the eight-kilometer course in a blistering time of 26:03. Joe Accordino '06 burned up the last half mile of the course, and out-kicked Lyndon State's top runner, placing second. Jon Erwin '05, Mike Mazzotta '03, Marshall Greene '03, Nick Digani '05, Nolan Sandygren '06 and Chris Eberly '03 finished fourth through ninth overall in a span of 27 seconds.
Many of the men ran their personal bests for an eight-kilometer race, including senior Marty Wesolowski who shaved 1:22 off his previous best time. Ryan Johnson responded to hearing this news, "A minute twenty-two?! To make a time drop like that, after running for nearly ten years, that's just ridiculous." When asked about his performance, Wesolowski attributed it to better training or maybe just something in the water.
Both teams were proud to bring home the championship and look to continue their momentum when they run against the best teams in New England this weekend at Franklin Park in Boston.