Cross-Country Kicks it into High Gear

Author: Ryan Reese

The 2003 Panther Invitational this past Saturday marked the beginning of another successful fall men's and women's cross country campaign. A strong team finish for both squads foreshadows a season that promises to carry on a long and triumphant Middlebury cross country tradition.

The women's team looks to keep up with its winning ways that include back-to-back NCAA Division III championship titles in 2000 and 2001 and a second place finish at the big dance a year ago. Team captains Jordan MacClary '05 and Molly Yazwinski '04 look to inspire and motivate a seasoned group of runners to achieve success on a national level.

With a first place finish in the home opener last weekend, the Panthers look like they are well on their way to realizing their lofty aspirations. Bates College came in second overall in the team competition. Ending up with an amazingly low team score of only 26, all top seven finishers for Middlebury found themselves in the top 15. Leading the Panther charge, Andy Giddings '07 finished in second place overall while Marisa Cawley '05 came in right on her tail to secure an overall third place mark. Both Giddings and Cawley crossed the finish line with impressive sub-20-minute finishes.

The women's team has worked hard this summer and during preseason workouts in order to prepare for another run at the national title. Yazwinski said the team's goals are simply to, "have fun, be healthy, and run fast when November comes around." Through strength, interval and speed training the lady Panthers find themselves ready to face the stiff NESCAC competition that includes Williams, the 2002 national champions. Although the team has covered many a mile already this season, they hope that the end of the road leads them to Hanover, Ind., the site of this year's NCAA Division III national title race, and a championship title to carry back to our very own Champlain Valley.

The men's team also turned in a solid performance by earning a second place overall finish. A cumulative score of 41 points placed the Panthers above third-place St. Michael's and just below the victorious Bates College runners. Marshall Greene '04 and Nat Silverson '04 will share the captaining duties this fall and look to push the Panther attack up towards that next level of competition. Silverson simply stated that the men's team hopes "to keep moving up in the NESCAC standings throughout the course of the year."

An inspiring second place finish last weekend shows the great potential that this Middlebury team possesses. The top seven Panther finishers all earned individual top 25 honors. Jon Erwin, Marshall Greene and Nick Digani each wound up in the top 10 individually. The Panthers look to this coming fall with a renewed sense of optimism and work ethic that will enable them to rise into the upper echelon of the NESCAC.

The Panthers will be hosting the NESCAC Championship this year on Saturday, Nov. 1. With the men's team "movin' on up" and the women looking to dethrone Williams it is sure to be an exciting race.