Men, women impress at Williams

Author: Sarah Bryan

"Success isn't something that just happens - success is learned, success is practiced and then it is shared." Second baseman and manager Sparky Anderson spoke these words while completing a career defined by winning the World Series three times and becoming fifth on the all-time managerial win list. His understanding of success spreads far beyond the baseball diamond and finds itself rooted in the core of our very own Panther cross country teams.

As the teams get into their fifth week of running here at Middlebury, they continue to perform with grace and poise, experiencing success throughout. Their hard work and diligence paid off this past weekend as they travelled to Massachusetts to compete in the Purple Valley Classic held at Williams College. The women's team finished second in team points (66) behind only the host team, while the men took fifth (156).

For the women, captain Alexandra Krieg '09 finished second individually in the 5k event with an outstanding time of 22:30, her average mile pace just over six minutes (6:03). Following Krieg were teammates Claire McIlvennie '12 (23:09), Chelsea Ward-Waller '12 (23:30) and Hannah Meier '11 (23:56). As a team, the women finished second overall and beat Amherst College, their top rival and the defending National Champions.

The men also put forth a great performance on their 8K run, with first-year Michael Schmidt '12 leading the team with a time of 27:07. Close behind were Jack Wambach '09 (27:15), Jack Terrett '11 (27:22) and Rainey Johnson '09 (27:40). The team averaged a time of 27:26 and performed well against their top-ranked competition.

"I am extremely pleased with our team's performance," said head coach Terry Aldrich. "We are right where we want to be at this point in the season, and I look forward to working with both teams as we continue into the more competitive races."

This next week the Panthers will practice hard in preparation for the upcoming Open New England Championship held during fall break on Oct. 11. This Saturday the teams will travel to Castleton State to race in the State Meet, an open race where anyone on the team can compete. Seeing as this event will have no effect on NESCAC rankings, the teams will treat the race as a workout and those nursing injuries may take it easy in preparation for the following weekend.

As the New England Championship approaches, one of the key strategies the team will take advantage of is the compassionate relationship between teammates. As the Panthers maintain their training in the fall season, team chemistry and support play a major role in achieving and sharing success.

"Everyone's very supportive with the running element and there's a great team dynamic," said Schmidt. "In high school, the team was really a family and I think it's the same way here."

As the team pushes further into their long season, both the coaches and the players look to each other for support. Returning players welcomed first-years into the program with open arms, and as a result, the Panther pack will share success, not as individuals, but as a unified team.