Runners give top-notch performance at home meet

Author: Alyssa O'Gallagher

If the track team was hoping for clear skies as they hosted their first and only home meet of the season this past Saturday, then they definitely got a break from Mother Nature. But for those of us hoping for some real spring weather, we were left a little disappointed. While there was not a cloud in the sky, the air was unseasonably chilly and the wind biting.

Suffice it to say, the weather did not make for the most desirable running conditions, but Head Coach Martin Beatty saw it as an opportunity to let the team "mentally know that they can compete" in adverse conditions, that they "gotta be tough" and "gotta be ready."

Both the men's and women's teams proved Beatty right, dominating the field on their home turf and essentially blowing competitors University of Vermont and Plattsburgh State College out of the water to take first place overall.

The meet was small and the tone very relaxed, allowing Middlebury to really experiment with runners in different events and assess its strengths and weaknesses.

On the women's side, the most evident strength was depth, according to Katy Magill '11.

"You really recognize how deep your team is," said Magill, "when you look at results and realize that you not only have a couple of very strong athletes consistently finishing in the top places, but also a whole cadre of runners right on their tails, vying for the top spot."

With the exception of throwing events, the Middlebury women won every single event they entered and swept several.

Annie Rowell '11 again had quite an impressive week, finishing first in both the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes.

Erin Toner '11 and Sophia Spring '11 also ran well, placing first and second, respectively, in both the 800 and 1500, with both performing exceptionally well in the 1500. The 5000 race ended in a Catamount victory after a couple of Middlebury runners scratched, but Margot Cramer '12 made sure the strength of the women's distance program was not forgotten, dominating the women's 3000 steeplechase.

The team's depth was especially evident in the 4x400 relay in which the Middlebury "A" and "B" teams finished less than a second apart. The "A" team, consisting of Magill, Alice Wisener '11, Kaitlynn Saldanha '11 and Becca Fanning '12, inched out the "B" team of Grace Close '11, Laura Dalton '10, Kara Montbleau '12 and Cailey Condit '11 at the very end, making for quite an exciting Panther-dominated race.

The women also dominated both hurdles events with a 1-2-3 finish of Jen Brenes '09, Kelley Coughlan '09 and Allison Astolfi '11 in the 100 hurdles and a 1-5 podium sweep in the 400 hurdles.

Both Wisener and Dalton set new personal bests in the 400 hurdles - finishing first and second, respectively - and are less than a second away from provisionally qualifying for the NCAA national championship meet.

In the field events, the women's jumping crew again asserted its supremacy, with Lizzie Faust '11 winning the high jump, Emer Feighery '09 taking the pole vault, Jen Brenes '09 winning the long jump and Kelley Coughlan '09 again blowing the competition out of the water in the triple jump.

The meet in general was truly a testament to the overwhelming depth of the women's team, which has certainly carved out a place for itself as one of the best teams in the NESCAC.

The men's team's success, while enough to give them the edge over competitors UVM and Plattsburgh State College, was less across the board than that of the women's team, stemming mostly from the dominance of the mid-distance and distance runners.

In the open 400, the Panther men swept the race with top three finishers Connor Wood '11, Micah Wood '10 and Ethan Mann '12 all finishing within a second of one another.

The men's 4x400 relay was just as successful, finishing at the head of the pack by more than seven seconds.

In the 800, Addison Godine '11 again finished first and rookie Mike Schmidt '12 had quite an impressive day, finishing first in both the 1500 and 5000 runs. Rookie John Montroy '12 also raced well, placing first in the 110 hurdles.

The men's jumping crew, in addition to sweeping the long jump led by first place jumper Robert Athan '10, also had several successful second- and third-place finishes, including second-place finishes by Adam Dede '11 in the pole vault and Silas Wong '11 in the triple jump.

The men's throwing crew outperformed the women with first-place finishes by rookie Alex Meyerson '12 in the discus and veteran Chandler Koglmeier '09 in the hammer throw, and a third-place finish by Nick Plugis '11 in the javelin.

Overall, it was a successful meet for both the men's and women's teams and a great showing on the Panthers' home track for a sizable crowd of family, friends and supporters.

After quite an impressive start to the season, Coach Beatty is looking forward to "getting ready for the postseason" at the Dartmouth Invitational next weekend, "a meet that will be the tune-up for NESCACs". The Panthers hope to ride their win this past weekend to another victory.