Panthers on the Track to Gold for NESCACs

The Middlebury track and field team competed in the Williams Invitational on Saturday, April 20.  Although the meet was non-scoring, the team competed hard as this was the last meet before the NESCAC Championships.  

Max Memeger ’21 said, “[…]both the men’s and women’s teams were able to put up great marks across the board in the final week before championship season. Every event group stepped it up this week and there were many huge PR’s, season bests and several school records. These performances give both teams great confidence as we look to carry this momentum into next weekends NESCAC championships.”

There were several notable performers for the women.  Gretchen McGrath ’19 was able to capture first place in the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.38.  In the 800-meter run, Lucy Lang ’19 and Nicole Johnson ’22 grabbed first and second place respectively.  Lang had a time of 2:19.66 and Johnson had a time of 2:21.58.  Rory Kelly ’19 came in first and Meg Wilson ’20 came in second in the 1500-meter run.  Kelly had a time of 4:38.98 and Wilson had a time of 4:45.72.  In the 100-meter hurdles, Catherine Walker ’20 was able to get first place with a time of 15.39.  

The Panthers did well in the 400-meter hurdles as they obtained the first three spots.  Julia Munz ’22 came in first with a time of 1:05.54, Emily Bulczynski ’22 came in second with a time of 1:06.77, and Anna Willig ’20 came in third with a time of 1:08.97.  Alex Cook ’20 placed first place in the long jump event with a jump of 5.55 meters and Simone Ameer ’21 got first in the triple jump event with a jump of 10.82 meters.  It is also important to mention that the 4X100 team that came in second place was composed of Lizzie Walkes ’20, Kate Holly ’21, McGrath, and Cook.  

Notable performers for the men include Jimmy Martinez ’19 and Nick Hendrix ’20 who obtained first and second place respectively in the 200-meter dash.  Martinez had a time of 21.90 and Hendrix had a time of 21.92.  In the 800-meter run, Jon Perlman ’19 came in second with a time of 1:54.49, while Will Meyer ’20 came in third with a time of 1:55.80.  Memeger had a time of 15.63 to win the 110-meter hurdles.  In the 400 meter hurdles, Jonathan Fisher ’20 got first with a time of 55.97.  The Panthers had a time of 42.42 in the 4X100 meter relay.  This team was composed of Noah Wagner-Carlberg ’19, Hendrix, Arden Coleman ’20, and Conor Banky ’19.  

The jumpers and throwers also achieved remarkable feats. John Natalone ’19 came in first place in the pole vault event, Dylan Mortimer ’19 was first in the triple jump event, Nathaniel Klein ’21 obtained first in the shot put event, Zack Sieb ’21 got first in the discus throw, and Minhaj Rahman ’19 came in first in the hammer throw.  

Next week is the start of championship season as the Panthers take part in the NESCAC championships on Saturday, April 27.  The team is on track to perform well if they continue to show the strength and resiliency that they have shown all season.  

On the NESCAC Championships, Walker said, “The team is super excited going into NESCACs this week; I’ve really never seen the group so united and determined so it’s going to be a great weekend.  Having it on our home track I think also brings another element of energy, so hopefully we get a ton of fans out there to support.”

“To prepare for the championships this weekend, the team will be dialing back the training volume significantly and focusing on small technique changes to get the body ready for the big day of competition this Saturday,” Memeger said.  

“We will also mentally lock ourselves in to get as amped as possible to pop off when the time comes. Finally we will of course continue our team tradition of lots and lots of Kombucha, doing a team flavor sampling event to build hype before NESCACS.”