Runners in a winning State of mind

Author: Jeff Patterson

It should come as no surprise that Middlebury finished first in this year's running of the Vermont Cross-Country Intercollegiate Championships. The men's and women's teams have owned the event for quite some time. In fact, the Athletic Department's archived history of the race, which dates back to 2001, only shows one second place finish by Middlebury. All of the rest are firsts.

On Saturday Sept. 30, at St. Michael's College, the Panthers out-ran Catamounts and Badgers, flew by Hornets and Eagles, out climbed Mountaineers and battled Green Knights and Purple Knights, Spartans and Cadets on their way to victory.

"We ran really well as a team," said Coach Terry Aldrich, who considered the team's "pack running" formula as the reason for their dual dominance. Teammates pushed those ahead of them, those behind them and those around them to run faster by giving each other competition inside competition.

"We worked together as a team throughout the entire race, and took turns leading," said Erin Archard '07, the runner who took home first place.

"Andi [Giddings '07] and I were running together in the final stretch but weren't trying to beat each other," said Alexandra Krieg '09. "We actually finished together but the scoring system requires that each runner have a place and not tie."

Several runners commented on the perfect conditions as it was cool but sunny and the course was dry. Since the St. Michael's course is "extremely flat," the majority of the Middlebury runners finished with stellar times. "Many ran their personal bests," said Aldrich. "That's pretty exciting."

Archard finished fifth in her two previous races this fall, but in Colchester, she crossed the finish first. "It can be anyone's race on any given day, especially on our team," she said, fully aware of the team's dependable depth. Archard's time of 18:19 was a full 1:50 off of her previous State meet race, a dramatic difference, even though the races were run on two completely different courses. Archard won by eight seconds over Krieg, who carried three other Panthers into the top five.

"It was exciting to watch Erin ahead of us as she passed a girl from Lyndon State [Lyndsay Calkins] to win," said Krieg '09. "She has a fantastic kick." Kreig, who did not run in last year's State race due to a pulled hamstring, also kicked it into high gear toward the finish line to take third place overall.

The women's team went first and bagged first place and then the men followed their lead, winning their fourth-straight State Invitational. "Winning is always nice, but claiming the team State Championship for the fourth time running, as a senior, was extra rewarding," said co-captain Chris Pelliccia '07. "As a senior class, we've seen this team transform over the last four years from mediocre to legitimate NESCAC competitors," continued Pelliccia. "The State Meet has been a good representation of that, as our score has steadily improved over the years."

Jimmy Butcher '08 defended his State title with a terrific time of 25:26.4. He wore bib #505 and coincidently averaged a 5:05 mile. Butcher chose a seat "in the back right portion of the coach bus" on the way over to the meet, but when it came time to lace up his New Balances and run, the Garden City Go-Cart positioned himself in his customary spot up-front.

"Jimmy went out in front from the beginning and led almost the entire race. He wasn't even pushed at the end," said Aldrich. "He just ran steady all the way through."

Times will likely change this weekend when the Panthers travel to Boston for the New England's. "Jimmy will face much stronger and deeper competition," according to co-captain Chris Pelliccia '07, "that hopefully will push him to run even faster." This weekend, the complete University of Vermont team will be in action, unlike last weekend, where the Catamounts split squads for both the State meet and the University of Maine's Murray Keatinge Invitational.

"It was especially promising to see so many underclassmen near the front of the race," said Pelliccia. First-year sensation Chris Free '10 finished fourth overall. "After running three races, I think I have become well adjusted to the five mile distance," said Free. "I am now accustomed to the pace and strategy and have started to relax more. I'm no longer getting as nervous," said Free, the second fastest first-year in Vermont.

"Having eight runners [including three first-years] in the top ten should provide a major confidence boost for our team as we begin the home stretch of our schedule next week," said Butcher. "Our team's placing was even more impressive when you consider the intensity of our training going into the race. People's legs had to be tired but no one showed it."