Track and Field Women Place First, Men Second at Silfen Invitational

The Middlebury track and field team continued its dominance during the Silfen Invitational on Friday, April 12 and Saturday, April 13. The men came in second place, and the women came in first.  

Nathan Hill ’20 said, “I thought the team performed really well this weekend. Everyone seemed to meet or exceed expectations and momentum is definitely moving in the right direction as we approach NESCACs.”

The men finished with a total of 85.5 points, while Worcester Polytechnic Institute won with 97.5 points. The Panthers had several crucial performances at this meet. Nick Hendrix ’20 captured fourth in the 100 meter dash with a time of 11.05. Hill finished in a time of 1:53.53 to score second in the 800 meter run. Jon Perlman ’19 came in first in the 1500 meter run, finishing with a time of 3:53.44. A time of 57.21 allowed Jonathan Fisher ’20 to come in second in the 400 meter hurdles. Theo Henderson ’20 participated in the 3000 meter steeplechase and finished with a time of 9:19.96 to get third place. It is also important to mention that the Middlebury “A” team finished in second place in the 4x400 meter relay. This team was composed of Arden Coleman ’20, William Robertson ’21, Josh Howard ’19 and Jimmy Martinez ’19. Minhaj Rahman ’19 also netted first place in the hammer throw event with a throw of 57.39 meters. 

The women finished with a grand total of 116 points. Point earners included Alex Cook ’20 who participated in the 200 meter dash and finished third with a time of 26.45. In the 800 meter run, Meg Wilson ’20 was able to finish with a time of 2:15.48 which got her second place. Abigail Nadler ’19 netted first place in the 1500 meter run by finishing with a time of 4:35.22. Rory Kelly ’20 came in first in the 5000 meter run with a time of 17.22.29. Kate MacCary ’19 captured a first place spot in the 10000 meter run with a time of 36:12.06.  

Of her first place finish, MacCary said, “I am very happy with [the] time and effort I put forth in the race this past Friday night. This race was actually my first-ever 10k on the track, and I’m excited that I was able to have a strong debut in the event. [It] was wonderful to have the support of my teammates for the entire 36-plus minute race. Given that I am novice in the 10k, I was not at all expecting to go below 36:30.”

“My teammates who I do a majority of training with — Abigail Nadler and Rory Kelly — also had phenomenal performances in the 1500m run and the 5k respectively,” further mentioned MacCary. “It was awesome to have our strong senior women training group pick up event wins in the 1500, 5k and 10k races. I am so grateful we can train together in the coming weeks to chase after our goals and improve in our signature events.”

The Middlebury “A” team finished with a time of 3:57.41 to get second place in the 4x400 meter relay. This team was composed of Lucy Lang ’19, Ava O’Mara ’21, Julia Munz ’22 and Gretchen McGrath ’21. It is also important to mention that Rebecca Gorman ’20 came in third in the javelin throw event, Simone Ameer ’21 came in fourth in the triple jump event and Cook came in first in the long jump event.   

The two upcoming meets are the Larry Ellis Invitational on Friday, April 19 and the Williams Invitational on Saturday, April 20.  Even with these meets ahead, the minds of the track and field team members are also on the quickly arriving NESCACs.

Hill mentioned, “NESCACs only comes to our home track once every 11 years, so there is so much excitement surrounding the event. We are all looking forward to the chance to compete in front of our friends, family and Middlebury community.”

“This upcoming weekend will be a tune-up for many team members and a chance for teammates to put forth a qualifying time for the conference championship and the DIII New England Championship,” MacCary said. “We will prepare for this coming weekend and the fast-approaching championship season by focusing on having strong practices, as well as recovering well from these workouts with proper sleep and recovery modalities. We will also look to strengthen our bonds and team dynamics to make sure we can arrive at these meets as the most cohesive and supportive squad we can possibly be. Exciting things are on the horizon for track and field.”