Middlebury finishes second, twice

Author: Sarah Bryan

The Middlebury cross country teams traveled to Castleton this past weekend to compete in their fourth race of the season. Both Panther teams came home with second-place team finishes in the State Meet, trailing closely behind the University of Vermont.

"Despite being the 'Vermont State Meet,' the race was actually very low key," said runner Stanis Moody '11. Both squads sat some runners out for this meet, mostly to rest injuries in preparation for their next race. "Losing to UVM was a disappointment as we had won this meet every year since 1986," continued Moody, "but seeing as we were racing without most of our varsity, we did okay."

As for the race itself, excitement permeated the course as multiple runners slipped at the end of a wet bridge, some of them emerging from the forest covered with mud and scraps. Regardless, the dirtied Panthers held their composure and finished strong.

The men's team raced 17 runners, five of whom finished in the top ten. First-year Michael Schmidt '12 led the Panther pack, finishing second with a time of 27:08. Behind Schmidt lurked the Panther squad, with Peter Hoffman '10 finishing fifth (27:46) and Nat Nelson '11 (28:03), Moody (28:05) and Chris Free '10 (28:14) taking spots eight through 10. The team averaged a time of 27:51 for its 8k race and scored 34 points, second to UVM at 21.

The women's team also put forth an outstanding performance, finishing eight points behind UVM with a score of 39. Individually, the Panthers finished strong, with four girls in the top ten. First year Elise Moody '12 crossed the finish line second (18:52:4), only three tenths of a second behind St. Michael's runner Mary Lynn Denholm (18:52:1). Moody's classmate Cate Brown '12 (19:18) took fifth place, while Katlynn Saldanna '11 (19:42) finished ninth and Chelsea Ward-Waller '12 (19:43) came in tenth.

Both teams took Castleton as a practice meet, and not everyone on the squad participated. Coach Terry Aldrich's strategy behind sitting some runners is to get the team prepared for next weekend's New England Championships. Annie Sullivan '10 and senior captain Charlotte Bemis '09 are nursing recent injuries back to health in hopes of returning quickly.

Nevertheless, those who did not run this weekend still went out to cheer on their fellow Panthers. Their reaction to their teammates' performances was anything but selfish, and exemplary to the team's overall positive dynamic.

"It was really uplifting to see my teammates finish with times that pleased them," said Sullivan, who has been resting due to a strained IT band. "Everyone that participated in Castleton ran a solid race, and I think they are happy with their performance."

"I tried to run my own race and it worked out the way I planned," said Hoffman, who finished fifth overall. "I feel that we're definitely prepared for the more competitive meets."

Both teams will stay on campus during fall break to compete in the Open New Englands, held in Boston, Mass. Over 40 teams will race in this one event, and many, if not all, of the top schools will be there to test the Panthers' strength.