Track running smoothly Panthers record solid marks in Albany Classic

Author: Zamir Ahmed

On Saturday, April 16, the Middlebury track and field team donned their spikes and game-faces for a trip to New York and the chance to compete in the Albany Spring Classic. There the Panthers took on nine other teams from the region, including Division I colleges Syracuse University and host University of Albany. The meet was a great experience for the Panthers as both the men's and women's teams took third behind Albany and Syracuse, respectively. The Panthers had a number of impressive performances turned in by both the women and the men, including a historic one by Khristoph Becker '06 in the decathlon.

Becker took the gold in the decathlon with a new Middlebury College-record of 6645 points. Becker's total was also good enough to qualify him for NCAAs on May 26-28. Becker, last year's New England Champion in the event, showed his versatility and athleticism by taking first in six out of the 10 events that make up the decathlon.

The men's team was also led by three other first place finishes on the day. Throwers Steve Atkinson '06 and Bobby Marcoux '07 had strong performances for the Panthers, with Atkinson taking first in the javelin with a NCAA-qualifying throw of 60.30m and Marcoux winning the discus with a mark of 40.75m. Kevin Bright '06 also grabbed a first place finish and improved on his NCAA time by stopping the clock in the 400m hurdles in a time of 53.15 seconds.

On the women's side, the Panthers were led by a pair of first place finishes. Sarah Berkowitz '05 took home the gold in the pole vault, clearing a height of 3.05m, ahead of teammate Sarah Wilson '08 who came in fourth. Shalini Vimal '07 also added a first for the Panthers with a win in the 5000m. A couple of second place finishes in the throwing events also highlighted the team's performance at the meet. Rachel Lincoln '08 took the silver in the javelin with a toss of 31.45m while Renee Courchesne '05 took second in the discus with a distance of 38.26m.

Co-Captain Liam Aiello '05 was pleased with the team's performance in the Panthers' second-to-last regular season meet. "At this point in the season, times and individual performances are really good," said Aiello. "We were competing against club teams and smaller schools in the area on Saturday but we also managed to hang in there with two good Division I programs, Albany and Syracuse."

The Panthers will next be in action at Dartmouth Invitational on April 24. The meet will be the last chance for team members to qualify for NESCACs, which will be held on April 30 at Colby College. "Our goal for the meet next week is to get as many people as possible to qualify for NESCACs," said Co-Captain Melissa Thacker '05. "We want to get three people [the NESCAC maximum] to qualify in each event. We want to get as many people to do their best as possible and for those not going to NESCACs we want them to have a great last meet."