Panthers take to the track in outdoor season opener

Following their annual spring training trip to San Diego, the Middlebury track and field team returned to East Coast competition this weekend in the Springfield Invitational. The team came in second overall at the meet, in which Bowdoin also competed. The team scored important wins in several races, but most notably, Jack Davies ’13 qualified for the NCAAs in the 3000m steeplechase. Davies won the race with a time of 9:21.44, and was selected NESCAC Male Performer of the Week for his impressive showing.
The men also scored an impressive first place finished in 4x400 relay, with a team of Jason Jan ’12, Peter Hetzler ’14 and tri-captains Addison Godine ’11.5 and Connor Wood ’11. Sophomore Stuart Fram ’13 won the 110m hurdles, and Patrick Hebble ’13 picked up a first place finish in the 800. Junior Jason Jan ’12 also had an impressive individual race, coming in first in the 400m. Tri-captain Godine also made sure to point out Jack Terrett ’11’s impressive performance in the 5k.
Five members of the women’s team won their events at Springfield, including junior Margo Cramer ’12 in the 800m with a time of 2:14.52. Grace Doering ’13 continued her impressive streak in the high jump, picking up a win with a jump of 5’5.25’.” Senior Kaitlynn Saldanha ’11 turned in another skillful performance, this time winning the 400m hurdles; tri-captain Christina Kunycky ’11 noted that Saldanha is now second in the NESCAC in the 400m hurdles. Junior Claire McIlvennie ’12 also ran an impressive race, winning the 5k with a time of 17:52.98, and rookie Katie Rominger ’14 won the 1500m.
Tri-captain Kunycky was enthusiastic about the team’s overall performance, saying, “We’ve been training hard since September and are coming off a strong spring break training trip. We have an immensely deep team with strength in almost every event, with that strength coming from everyone from seniors to freshmen.”
The team is already looking ahead to the NESCAC title in three weeks; Kunycky believes that “the team should be very competitive with Williams and Tufts this year.” She also noted that “we’re trying to qualify as many individuals for the DIII New England championships and the NCAAs as we can.”
With such confidence coming from the team’s leader and a chance to really make an impact on a national stage, look out for more impressive performances from the track team in the weeks to come.