Rainy Saturday sees Midd prevail Panthers dominate despite inclement conditions at home meet

Author: Chris Dowd

This past weekend the Middlebury men's and women's track and field teams hosted and won the annual Middlebury Invitational. Coming back from the perfect conditions of sunny San Diego, the Panthers competed against Vermont, Colby-Sawyer, Union, St. Rose and Norwich in what coach Nicole Wilkerson said were, "less than ideal conditions." The meet took place in cold and rainy weather over the weekend that most track and field enthusiasts would consider as crippling. I guess nobody told that to Robert Marcoux '07.

Marcoux jumpstarted the Panthers this weekend by hurling a personal best 156'11" in the discus while qualifying for the nationals, which will be held in Illinois. Following Marcoux's resiliency to the adverse weather conditions were the usual outstanding performances of Senior All-Americans Kevin Bright and Steve Atkinson. Each won their respective events easily. Bright won the 400 hurdles with a time of 56.33 seconds and Atkinson won the hammer throw by crushing the competition with a throw of 138'6''.

On the women's side, first-years Jen Katz and Jennifer Brenes were the catalysts in the Panthers' runaway victory. Katz took home the 200 in 26.46 seconds, and Brenes captured the 100 hurdles in 15.6 seconds. Those victories helped support the expected dominant performances of upperclassmen Whitney Creed '06 and Andrea Giddings '07, who won the hammer (139'7'') and steeplechase (11:34.55), respectively.

While winning and doing well individually were certainly on the team's mind this past weekend, Coach Wilkerson noted that best part of the weekend was, "getting the full team together to start working towards winning the NESCAC." This upcoming month both teams will compete in a preliminary meet with Williams and Amherst and will continue training throughout the next three weeks until the NESCAC championships. Marcoux said the team's main concern in the upcoming weeks will be, "remaining focused on taking away league dominance from Williams."

The Panthers do not have an easy road at all, though. With Williams taking the NESCAC championship nine out of the last 11 seasons, the Panthers will have to look to their depth as a team in order to beat the Ephs.

Continued winning performances will be needed from athletes like Albert Handy '08 in the Triple Jump, Matt Engler '06 in the 110 hurdles, Jimmy Butcher '08 in the 5000 and Pascal Losambe '07 in the shot-put. On the women's side, Emma Feighery '09 in the pole vault and Kelly Coughlan '09 in the triple jump will need to be immediate contributors. The teams' depth and determination will be musts if this year's talent-laden squads are to win their first NESCAC championships in 15 years.

Look for the Panthers to do well this weekend at Williams, then really pave the way for their championship run in a couple weeks when they return home to the Dragone Track and Field for the second Panther Invitational. The Panthers showed a great deal of resiliency this weekend amidst the abysmal weather. Senior Matt Angoff aptly quoted the team as being tough to beat this year with its "savage determination and skill across the board."