Track and field takes on Big Green and UVM in Hanover

The Middlebury Track and Field Team competed in a rare Sunday meet this past weekend in Hanover, N.H., competing against Dartmouth and the University of Vermont. The Panthers finished third, only six points behind second-place UVM, a Division I school. Several runners gave impressive performances at the meet. For the women’s team, four runners won their events. Senior Annie Rowell ’11 took home the 100m dash, and sophomore Juliet Ryan-Davis ’13 gave an impressive performance in the 400m, winning with a time of 58.38. She also gave the Panthers a third place finish in the 200m. Showing the Panther’s depth at all distances, first-year Madie Hubbell ’14 won the women’s 5000m with a time of 18:20.95. Rounding out the four first-place finishes was sophomore Emily Dodge ’13, who won the long jump with a distance of 17’5.25”.
Other notable performances were given by Erin Toner ’11, who came in third in the 800m, and junior Mia Martinez ’12, who came up with a third-place finish in the 100m hurdles. The Middlebury Women’s 4 x 400m relay team, made up of tri-captain Christina Kunycky ’11, Toner, Rebecca Fanning ’12 and Ryan-Davis also had a great day, running a time of 4:03.90 and coming in third.
Senior tri-captain Alice Wisener ’11 was pleased with the team’s performance in the meet, stating, “We were up against Division 1 teams and we were still able to compete. It was really encouraging to see such a great performance by the team.”
On the men’s side, sophomore Stuart Fram ’13 gave the team a big win, bagging a first place finish in the 110m hurdles with a time of 15.47. First year Peter Hetzler ’14 pulled through for the team with two second place finishes, in the 200m and the 400m races. Finishing immediately behind Hetzler for the third place finish in the 400m was Ethan Mann ’12. Sophomore Jack Davies ’13 also ran an impressive race in the 1500, coming in second with a time of 3:57.80, and senior Donny Dickson ’11 rounded out the quartet of second-place finishes in the 3000m steeplechase with a time of 9:37.80. In an impressive display of teamwork, the men’s 4 x 100m relay team, made up of first-years Kevin Chu ’14, Hetzler, Jason Jan ’12 and Dan Bent ‘13 took first place.
Though it was not the team’s best overall meet, it did give them a chance to go up against stiff Division I competition and hold their own; both the men’s and women’s teams showed their depth and strength this weekend. With NESCAC Championships a mere two weeks away, the team is looking strong and confident and poised for an impressive showing. The team will have a last chance to fine-tune their skills at next week’s meet, the only one at home this season, so look for some great performances as the Panthers put on a show for a hometown audience. Runners like Davies, who was recently named player of the week in the NESCAC, will look to continue to build off of the strong starts they have established so fall this spring season. After the stirring success of both the men’s and women’s cross-country teams last fall, Middlebury track and field should be anxious to continue our new-found dominance of all sports running related.