Ryan-Davis Demolishes Records at D3 New Englands

The Middlebury College track and field teams participated in the New England Division III Championships this Saturday, May 4, at Colby College.  The men’s squad finished 10th among 26 teams, and the women placed 10th in a field of 25 teams.

Juliet Ryan-Davis ’13 ran a remarkable 2:07.73 in the women’s 800-meter run, setting a new track, Middlebury and Division III New England meet record.  Ryan-Davis’ time was also 10th best in Division III all-time.

“My personal best before the race was 2:10.68,” said Ryan-Davis, “In high school and earlier in college I put 2:10 on such a pedestal. I kept getting stuck at 2:11 [this year].”

“I was really grateful for Emily Dodge [’13] and Patrick Rooney [’13] at the 200 meters and again at the 600-meter mark yelling my splits and telling me to push it,” continued Ryan-Davis, “When I realized [I had run] a 2:07, I was pretty psyched, because you don’t get to PR in the 800 by three seconds very often. The last time I did that was probably in high school.”

The men’s team from Bates squeaked out a one-point victory over MIT to capture the overall team championship.

For Middlebury, the 4x100-meter relay team of Kevin Chu ’14, Bryan Holtzman ’14, Fritz Parker ’15 and Will Bain ’15 placed third just behind MIT and Tufts.  Holtzman also provided a top-10 finish in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.27, good for sixth in the field.  The men were also strong in the distance events.  In the 1,500-meter run, Jack Davies ’13, Wilder Schaaf ‘14 and Patrick Hebble ’13 finished fourth, fifth and sixth.  Sam Craft ’14 placed sixth in the 800-meter run.  Anthony Lee ’13 finished fifth in the 5,000-meter run at 4:55.58.

On the women’s side, MIT achieved a clear victory over second-place Tufts.

For Middlebury, Kara Walker ’13 competed in the heptathlon, besting the field in the long jump and placing eighth overall.  Carly Andersen ’16 placed fourth in the javelin throw.  Emily Dodge ’13 came in at fifth in the long jump with a leap of 17’ 2.25”.  Dodge also gathered a top-10 finish in the triple jump, placing sixth, and was joined by teammate Emma McGuirk ’15 at ninth.  Laura Strom ‘15 tied for ninth in the high jump.  Addie Tousley ’13 broke the top-10 in the 1,500-meter run, just seconds ahead of teammates Sarah Guth ’15 and Alison Maxwell ’15.

Alex Morris ’16 ran a 58.24 in the women’s 400-meter dash, good for sixth in the event.  Sarah O’Brien ’13 joined Ryan-Davis in the 800-meter run, placing sixth with a time of 2:15.97.  In the women’s 5,000-meter run, MIT runners took the top four spots, but were closely followed by Lottie Hedden ’14.

Additionally, the men’s and women’s 2013 All-NESCAC teams were announced this week.  Twenty-six Middlebury athletes placed in the top three in their events at last week’s NESCAC championships to earn All-NESCAC honors.

Fifteen Middlebury men were included in the all-conference team, the most of any team in the conference. The Panthers were boosted by top-three finishes from all three of their relay teams at NESCACs.

For the women, 11 Panthers were named All-NESCAC, the second most in the conference.

The Panthers will compete next at the Open New England Championships on Friday and Saturday, May 10 and 11, hosted by Stonehill College.