Track falls just short at Yale

Author: Ryan Reese

This past weekend, select members of the Panther Indoor Track and Field squad made their way south in order to compete in the Open New England Championships. With only the best of the best in attendance, there were sure to be some fireworks throughout the evening's competition. Yale University's Coxe Gage indoor sporting facility played host for the evening's events. With a temporarily assembled, extremely banked track encircling the field events and a sprint strip, the building was a chaotic hive of constant activity and commotion. The Panther competitors were pushed to fade these distractions to the back of their minds in order to focus on their respective goals.

In the women's 600 m run, there was not much between the inseparable pair of Allison Williams and Melissa Thacker, both seniors. The suitemates and training partners ended up in third and fifth place respectively and clocked times differing by 21 100ths of a second. In the sprints, Panther Erin Oliver '07 broke the ten-second barrier with a time of 9.26 seconds. Moving to the field events, first-year Sarah Wilson took fourth in the pole vault by clearing 2.87m while senior Sarah Berkowitz found herself in fifth after a jump of 2.72m.

On the men's side of things, Nick Digani '05 was in action once again. His performance in this weekend's open 800m was not his best, but he is still hoping to deliver at Nationals. Digani finished in sixth place after being caught in the middle of the pack. As the race progressed, he realized that the pacing was too slow. He upped the pace and made a late move, but it wasn't enough for a solid time or place according to the lofty expectations of the senior runner.

Matt Engler '06 competed in the 55m hurdles and ended up with a mark of 8.05 seconds. The junior from San Diego looked solid, but there is no doubt that as the outdoor season begins he will improve that time and progress throughout the spring.

During the night's main event, the highly-touted men's 4x400m relay team laced up the spikes and donned the familiar speed suits as they raced against the clock and some tough competition as well. The combination looked strong as they edged out the Coast Guard Academy, and several other teams on their way to finishing second. On Monday night, the times for nationals came out and after an incredible final weekend of competion around the country, the Panthers were left outside looking in. With the top ten relay teams in the country qualifying for the national meet, Digani '05, Kevin Bright '06, Matt Malek '06 and Patrick Swan '08 found themselves in the eleventh spot. Losing out by only three 100ths of a second, they were left with thoughts of what could have been. Malek commented, "It's pretty disappointing. Three 100ths of a second in a three and a half minute race is nothing at all." The track at Yale was comparatively slower and the fact that Swan was recovering from a bout with strep throat did not help the Middlebury cause.

There is no doubt that these Panther runners and many others will be making some noise during the spring season. Middlebury will travel to San Diego over Spring Break for their annual training trip. The 2005 outdoor campaign will heat up from there and feature a new look team that has set its sights on unity, dedication and, most importantly, going all out, all the time.