Track and Field Scores at the Amherst Spring Fling

Although it feels like the indoor track season ended only recently, the team is already several meets into the outdoor season.  On Saturday, April 6, the team participated in the Amherst Spring Fling with impressive results.  

On the team’s performance at this meet, Noah Wagner-Carlberg ’19 said, “Overall this weekend was a very exciting one for Midd Track and Field. The Amherst Spring Fling saw a lot of remarkable performances from our athletes, indicative of our growth over the course of the season and of the work we put in over spring break in San Diego. Most notably we saw terrific marks from both male and female athletes in nearly every field event, including season’s bests and personal bests.”

The women were able to capture second place in a total field of seven teams by obtaining 90 points.  There were many crucial contributors to these points.  Lucy Lang ’19 came in first in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:19.86.  Emily Bulczynski ’22 achieved second place in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:08.28.  In the pole vault event, Kreager Taber ’19, Molly Colwell ’20, and Leah Granger ’22 were able to get first, second, and fourth respectively. Taber vaulted 3.40 meters, Colwell 3.19 meters, and Granger 2.80 meters.  In the long jump event, Alex Cook ’20 jumped 5.51 meters, Simone Ameer ’21 jumped 5.31 meters, and Jackie Topping ’22 jumped 5.26 meters.  They captured the first three places in the event.  It is also important to note that Helene Rowland ’20 placed first in shot put, Emily Ray ’20 came in first in the discus throw, and Rebecca Gorman ’20 ranked first in the javelin throw.

The men were able to get second place in a total field of six teams with 100.50 points.  Key contributors included Nick Hendrix ’20 in 200 meter dash where a time of 22.01 pushed him to first place.  Jonathan Fisher ’20 got a time of 56.87 to get first in the 400-meter hurdle.  The “A” team, composed of Wagner-Carlberg, Hendrix, Matthew Durst ’21, Conor Banky ’19 and Henry Tatum ’21, captured second in the 4x100 relay.  In high jump, Fisher and Francis Price ’22 were able to capture third place and a tie for fourth in this event respectively.  Nathaniel Klein ’21, Zack Sieb ’21 and James Caprio ’21 obtained the first three places in shot put.  Klein threw 14.65 meters, Sieb threw 13.25 meters, and Caprio threw 12.63 meters.  Sieb and Caprio also happened to get the first two places respectively in the discus throw.  Minhaj Rahman ’19 participated in the hammer throw and placed first with a throw of 55.75 meters.  

Fisher mentioned, “I was happy to get a few good jumps in, and I’m proud of my teammate Tim DeLorenzo for clearing 6’0.75” in his first collegiate outdoor meet. The 400 hurdles are always a difficult event, and I’ve had some trouble getting my feet under me after coming back from abroad. I feel like this race was definitely a step in the right direction and gives me momentum going into next week’s meet.”

During this early part of the season, the Panthers have to make sure to work hard to prepare for the later championship meets.

“As with any year of Midd Track and Field, NESCACs is by far the most anticipated competition of the season, and there is already a lot of hype surrounding the event this year,” Wagner-Carlberg mentioned.

Ray adds, “We always want to win NESCACs, but this year the men are looking to keep their title, while the women’s team wants to come out stronger than ever and beat Tufts and Williams at NESCACs. We’re hosting NESCACs this year at Middlebury, so we’re even more determined to have fun and push ourselves to compete at the highest level.”

With the team continuing to strive towards their goals, they will next compete at the Silfen Invitational on both Friday, April 12 and Saturday April 13. 

“A lot of the team did not compete in Amherst, so we’re excited to prepare for the Silfen Invitational at Connecticut College,” said Ray.  “It’s looking like a big meet with a lot of good competitors, which will be good preparation in the month before NESCACs.”

Fisher adds, “The Silfen Invitational at Conn College is shaping up to be an intense meet. It will feature many of the top NESCAC teams, who will be looking to get some good times and distances for the bigger meets coming up in 3-4 weeks. It should be a good preview for the NESCAC championship meet at Middlebury on April 27. Hopefully we’ll be able to continue our hot streak and put together more impressive performances.”