Track & Field Warms Up in Golden State, Ready to Take East Coast by Storm

After a small break, the men’s and women’s track teams are beginning their outdoor season. Over spring break, the team participated in the PNLU Collegiate Invitational on Saturday, March 24 and the California Collegiate Open on Saturday, March 31. Both the men and the women did well in these opening meets. Hard work and dedication early on will definitely lead to success later in the season.
At the PNLU Invitational, the men came in first with a score of 155 in an 11-team field. Headlining the Panthers’ efforts were the usual suspects. Nick Hendrix ’20 captured fifth place in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.85, and he got second place in the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.54. Jimmy Martinez ’19 also did well in the 200-meter dash with a fifth-place finish and a time of 21.78.
But Martinez left his biggest mark on the 400-meter race when he finished with a time of 47.78 to capture first place, setting a meet and school record in the process. For his record-breaking performance, Martinez was named Nescac Performer of the Week.
Some other notable performances were second- and third-place finishes by Connor Evans ’19 and Harrison Knowlton ’19, respectively, in the 5000-meter run. Evans had a time of 14:50.96, while Knowlton had a time of 14:56.41. Also, Middlebury’s “A” team for the 4x400-meter relay finished with a time of 3:22.13, which netted them second place. The team consisted of Matthew Durst ’21, Tyler Farrell ’18, Kevin Serrao ’18 and Arden Coleman ’20. Taylor Moore ’20 participated in the javelin throw and placed third; he threw 50.55 meters.
Moore and his teammates looked positively at the meet as a whole.
“I definitely can’t complain about my throws this weekend,” Moore said. “I started with a third-place finish at the opening meet, with a great distance given it was my first time throwing outside all year. The snow at Middlebury had kept us inside up to this point, so San Diego was a great opportunity to get outside and get some real training in. The second meet I had a great day. I actually threw my farthest throw ever, a personal record of 174 feet, which was good enough for a fifth place finish. I’m excited to keep it going through the rest of the season.”
“I think we did an incredible job at our meets this trip,” said Moore. “The men’s team won our first meet at Point Loma, which included two big Nescac rivals, Tufts and Williams. Really set the tone going into training that week and set us up well for the second meet of the trip, hosted by UC San Diego. We did not place as well at this meet due to a combo of better competition and being sore from all the training. That meet had athletes from USC, Louisville, and Wisconsin. [It] was great to see athletes from a higher level compete — it helped us push ourselves.”
The women’s team also performed well at the PNLU Invitational, where they came in second with a score of 114 in a total field of thirteen teams. The first-place team was Point Loma, with a score of 197.
The women did extremely well in the 1500-meter run with three top-10 finishers. Katie Glew ’21 finished second with a time of 4:38.50. Abigail Nadler ’19 and Read Allen ’18 finished in eighth and ninth place with times of 4:45.37 and 4:47.38, respectively. Kate MacCary ’19 had a great-first place finish in the 5000-meter run with a time of 17:13.03. The 4x100m and the 4x400m relay teams both had impressive outings, with times of 49.32 and 4:00.28, respectively, both good for fourth place. The 4x100m relay team consisted of Ellie Greenberg ’20, Kate Holly ’21, Alex Cook ’20 and Lizzie Walkes ’20. The 4x400m relay team comprised Kate McCluskey ’18, Lucy Lang ’19, Anna Willig ’20, and Holly. There were two top-five finishers in the javelin throw. Julia Lothrop ’19 finished in third with a throw of 37.65 meters and was followed by Helene Rowland ’20, whose 35.75-meter throw got her fourth place.
At the California Collegiate Open, the Panthers faced some of the toughest competition they will see this year. The men’s side still managed to finish seventh with a team score of 67. The first-place team was UC San Diego, with a score of 163.5.
At the California Open, the men’s 4x100m relay team finished in fifth place with a time of 43:13. The team consisted of Jackson Bock ’19, Jackson Barnett ’18, Joshua Howard ’19, and Hendrix. In the 800-meter run, Serrao got a time of 1:51.96 to receive second place, and James Mulliken ’18 got a time of 1:53.74 to receive fourth place. Jon Perlman ’19 and Will Meyer ’20 did very well in the 1500-meter run, capturing second and third place, respectively. Perlman had a time of 4:00.09, and Meyer had a time of 4:00.36. There were also three scorers in the 3000-meter steeplechase. These were Theo Henderson ’20 in fifth place, Ascencion Aispuro ’18 in sixth place and Thomas Tarantino ’21 in eighth place.
The women’s squad also found success at the California Open despite the top-notch competition, as they finished in fifth with 46 points. Wisconsin took the top spot in the meet with a score of 179.
McCluskey showed her skill by coming in first in the 400-meter run with a time of 56.18 and by breaking a school record with a time of 25.61 in the 200-meter dash. Willig dominated the 800-meter run by finishing first with a time of 2:12.73. In the 1500-meter race, Nadler placed third with a time of 4:39.16. MacCary and Allen placed sixth and seventh, respectively, with times of 4:45.19 and 4:46.10.
These two meets were great ways to start the season for the track team, and they all look forward to getting started with the outdoor season.
“The team is super excited heading into the outdoor season,” Moore said. “It goes by pretty quick with meets every weekend until the Nescac Championships like a month out. I think we have a good chance at winning it all — we were able to beat Tufts and Williams the first time around, and with our volume of training and positive energy I think we can do it. Go Panthers!”
Hopefully more success will follow. The team will be back in action on Saturday, April 7, when they head south down I-91 toward Amherst, Massachusetts, where they will take part in the Amherst Spring Fling.