Cross country shuts out competition at home meet

The Panthers ran their way to another win this weekend. On Saturday, the men’s and women’s cross-country teams dominated at the Vermont Cross Country State Meet, held at Middlebury. The Panthers swept the top finishes at this meet, with the men taking 16 of the top 18 places and women taking 13 of the top 15 places. They ran with a goal in mind, and they ran intelligently.

“I also believe that we achieved a pre-race goal of utilizing some pack running which can be devastating to runners from other teams being overtaken,” said Coach Terry Aldrich.

This approach to the race resulted in the Panthers finishing in rapid succession and sweeping the top spots, with almost no runners from competing schools finishing between the top 18 runners.

On the men’s side, Michael Schmidt ’12 once again won the race with a time of 27:04. Right on his heels were Greg Krathwohl ’14 and Jack Terrett ’11. Krathwohl finished with a 27:08.20, just two-tenths of a second ahead of teammate Terrett. Following this close race to round out the top six places were John Davies ’13, Nate Sans ’14 and Sam Miller ’12. Lyndon State was the only school able to squeak into the top 18 placing seventh and ninth.

On the women’s side, it was a good day to be a rookie. Colette Whitney ’14 took first for the Panthers with a time of 19:24. Katie Rominger ’14 was second with a time of 19:27. Addie Tousely ’13 finished third, less than a second ahead of teammate Madie Hubbell ’14. Hanna Meier ’11 and Chelsea Ward-Waller ’12 were fifth and sixth, respectively. The women boxed out all but one runner from St. Michael’s, who finished ninth, and one from Castleton State, who finished 11th.

The races by the men’s and women’s team were followed by an alumni 5k, an always-popular fall event.

This incredible win came as a pleasant surprise to Aldrich, who commented on how hard the Panthers have been training up to the competition.

“I was honestly surprised at how good most of our team felt during the race considering the training we did during the week,” said Aldrich. “This past week was scheduled to be one of the more difficult training weeks of the season yet the team responded really well to the competition.”

Coach Aldrich also expressed excitment for the upcoming weekend, where the Panthers will race not only D3 but also D1 and D2 schools from all over New England at the Open New England Championships. He is looking forward to seeing the team run fast and have fun at this meet.  Schmidt will be looking to win his third consecutive race and further establish himself as the top distance runner in New England.

The team was thrilled with the weekend as it was a great last hurrah of a home meet for Aldrich, who will be retiring in December.