Martinez and Distance Medley Teams Punctuate Successful Weekend

Last Sunday, Feb. 25, some members of the track and field team took to I-89 South toward Boston en route to competed in the Boston University Last Chance Meet.

For the men, there were several notable performances, including Jimmy Martinez ’19’s effort in the 400 meter dash, in which he placed second with a time of 47.81. Flip on over to B2 to read more about our Panther Player of the Week.

On the women’s side, team captain Kate McCluskey ’18 once again provided several highlights, as she competed in the 200 meter dash and was on Middlebury’s A team for the distance medley where she teamed up with Tasha Greene ’21, Meg Wilson ’20 and Abigail Nadler ’19. McCluskey ran a 25.67 in the 200 and contributed to the distance medley team’s third-place finish.

From a team standpoint, the third place finish by McCluskey, Wilson, Greene and Nadler had to be one of the two big highlights of the weekend for the Panthers. While their time of 11:43.09 only got them third at the Boston University meet, the event included Division I teams. As of right now, 11:43.09 is the fastest a Division III indoor team has run this season.

Anna Willig ’20 and Talia Ruxin ’20 also provided highlights for the Panthers.

From an individual standpoint, their performances have to give the Panthers a lot to feel good about going forward. Willig ran the 800 meter race in 2:16.07, while Ruxin finished fifth in the 5,000 meters with a time of 18:18.70.

Connor Evans ’19 and Matt D’Aquila ’21 competed in the 3000 meter race on the men’s side. Evans came in ninth with a time of 8:31.51 and D’Aquila came in fourteenth with a time of 8:40.98.

While the women’s distance medley squad provided one of the two big highlights for the Panthers, the men’s team’s distance medley group of Nathan Hill ’20, Martinez, James Mulliken ’18 and Kevin Serrao ’18 teamed up to cross the finish line with a time of 9:52.97, good for the second-best mark at the DIII level this season.

The Panthers will next participate in the Tufts Last Chance Meet this Saturday, March 3, in Medford, Massachusetts. Both the BU and Tufts Last Chance Meets are good ways for the team to gets in-meet practice before the NCAA Championships which start of Friday, March 9.