Cross Country Maintains Its Stride

Author: Peter Yordan

Fleet of foot and full of fury, the Middlebury cross country teams pulled of a pair of strong showings at the Albany Invitational last weekend in preparation for the upcoming NESCAC tournament. The men pulled off a respectable seventh place finish, while the women solidified their hold on the number one national ranking with a tournament victory.

The men's team came into the race looking to gain momentum for a strong finish at NESCACs. The squad pulled together in Albany to pull off one of its best results of the year. "We ran really well, 75 percent of our guys ran their fastest time of the season," said Russ McCracken '04. "Everybody really stepped it up." Middlebury placed four runners in the top 50, with Jon Erwin '05 setting the pace at 26 overall. Garrott Kuzzy '06 came in next for the Panthers at 35, co-Captain Marshall Green '04 finished 43rd and Nick Digani '05 took 50th. Overall the Panthers were seventh best of the 20 teams present, a strong finish for a team looking to break into the upper tier of New England programs.

Looming on the horizon is a tough NESCAC championship. Three of the nation's top 20 teams race in the league and will provide the Panthers with a very stern test. The squad, however, remains optimistic about its ability to perform well in its most important race of the season. "During the past two years our team has undergone a real distance running renaissance," said McCracken. "Two years ago we finished dead last in NESCAC. Last year we were 10th. This year we're solidly looking at fifth or sixth place. It's really just been everybody stepping up in racing, everybody stepping up in training. That combines to just raise the bar for our whole team."

The women runners' biggest obstacle may be the onerous weight of expectations. The team, a national powerhouse with two national titles in the last three years, is once again ranked number one in Division III and looks to be the team to beat for any postseason hardware.

The Panthers provided another convincing demonstration of strength at the Albany Tournament with a compelling first place finish. The team demolished the field, overpowering its opponents with incredible depth. Seven Panthers finished in the top 20, led by Jess Manzer's '05 third place finish. Andrea Giddings '04 finished just behind her at number five, and Erin Archard '07 gave an inspired performance in ninth place with a personal best of 18 minutes, 19 seconds. The second wave of Panthers, composed of co-Captain Molloy Yazwinski '04, Steph Nugent '07 and Marisa Cawley '05 , came in together in the 12 through 14 spots. Amber Trotter '06 crossed the finish in 20th place to round out the top seven and give Middlebury a very impressive victory over the field, which included several Division I schools. The team now sets its sights once again on postseason glory, starting with the upcoming NESCAC tournament. "Our depth is our biggest strength," said Yazwinski. "We've got a pretty strong core group of five." The Panthers may be burdened with great expectations, but they remain loose in the face of their illustrious history. Yazwinski said, "We don't really look at the rankings, but we're a bit stronger than we thought we'd be."

Both teams will also seek to benefit from their role as hosts at this year's NESCAC championship, which is being held at the college. "It should be a huge advantage for us, because we're just so familiar with the course. We're really just making a point to get out on the course every day," said McCracken.