Cross-Country Team Hits Its Stride

Author: Andreas Apostolatos

Middlebury's College's cross country teams both had solid showings at the Williams Invitational last weekend. The men's team managed a sixth place finish out of the 11 teams in competition, while the Panther women posted a second-place result. With a series of stern tests looming on the horizon, Middlebury will be looking to build momentum for another title run.

In the men's eight-kilometer event, junior Jonathan Erwin had the best Middlebury individual finish for the second straight week, as he finished 11th overall.

In the five-kilometer all-first-year men's portion of the invitational, Middlebury posted a second-place result behind host Williams. The Panthers will hope to get a boost from their first-year runners as the season progresses. Nine of the team's 24 players are new to Middlebury this year.

"The team is really optimistic," said senior captain Nat Silverson. "We've done a lot of hard training, and are looking good. We have a very strong group of freshmen, and this could be our best season in a while."

The Middlebury women were led by first-years Andrea Giddings and Stephanie Nugent, who finished second and fifth overall, respectively. Following them in sixth place was junior Marisa Cawley. Middlebury finished the meet with a team score only six points behind that of first-place Williams. The apparent strength of the team's first-year runners can only bode well for the Panthers as they advance further into the season.

"I am really excited for this season," commented sophomore Claire Anderson, who is also a force on the women's cross-country ski team. "We have a long of strong freshmen, and a lot of talented returning runners. We should do well."

Both the men's and women's teams will compete in the Bates Invitational this weekend on a course that has been selected as the site of the 2003 NCAA regional meet on Nov. 15.