Cross-Country Bounds Pas tthe Pack at NESCACs

Author: Mike Mazzotta

The Middlebury cross country team traveled to Grafton, Mass., last weekend to compete in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Championships. It was cold, winds were gusting and the course was hilly, but the Panthers were not to be deterred. Both the women and men had strong showings, capturing second and tenth place, respectively.
The women's team ran well, placing four runners in the top 10. Michela Adrian '03 blazed a trail for the Panthers capturing third place in a time of 18:03. Sophomore Jess Manzer was in hot pursuit, placing fifth in a time of 18:13. Manzer was followed by Sarah Logan '03 (seventh) and Molly Yazwinski '04 (10th). Nora Segar '06, Kelsey Rinehart '06 and Jenny Jorvig '06 placed fifth through seventh within the team.
Logan and Yazwinski both had terrific races. Logan made the best of her final NESCAC Championship, finishing in the top 10 for the first time in her career. Yazwinski, who has been battling injuries all season, proved she is on the comeback by placing 10th in the meet. The Panthers showed their depth by running without Marissa Cawley '05 who has consistently been in their top five this season. Claire Anderson '06, Melissa Cohen'03, Hattie Bildsten '06, Jordan MacClary '05 and Taylor Leach '06 also had strong races.
The men's team proved once more that is is a much stronger team than it was a year ago. They bettered their score from last year's NESCAC Championship by 43 points. Garrott Kuzzy '06 led the way finishing in 21st place overall in a time of 26:35. Kuzzy's 21st place was the best Middlebury men's performance at NESCACs since 1999. Jon Erwin '05, Mike Mazzotta '03 and Marshall Greene '04 followed Kuzzy. The three Panthers raced together in a tight pack and finished in an eight second span from 27:37 to 27:45. Nick Digani '05, Mike Romankiewicz '03 and Mike Accordino '06 rounded out the top seven spots for the Panthers.
In spite of the cold and windy weather, five of the Panther men dropped a combined total of 2:40 seconds from their previous race at the same Grafton course on Sept. 28th. Chris Eberly '04, Tom Icard '06, Nat Silverson '04 and Jakub Benes '04 all had excellent races and were just outside of the top seven.
Anderson, Logan and Romankiewicz are the special interest runners of the week. Anderson finished eighth for the Panthers, running her best race of the season. Logan earned the honors for breaking into the top 10 while Romankiewicz shaved 47 seconds off of his previous time at Grafton this season.
In the words of Head Coach Terry Aldrich, "It was a great day to be a Panther." The teams were happy with their performances and look forward to improving in their final meets.
This weekend the Panthers will compete in the Eastern Conference Athletic Championshps (ECACs) at Williams. Last year, the women placed third out of a 33 team Divison III field, finishing behind only Amherst and Williams. The men, meanwhile, finished a respectable 17th.
Judging by this year's early results, however, both teams look poised to improve on last season's ECACs showing. The Panthers will be in full stride this week to prepare for the meet.