Track and field takes second and third at home

Just one week after returning from a Spring training trip to San Diego, the Middlebury men’s and women’s track and field teams began their seasons at home last Saturday. Competing against Bowdoin, Springfield and UVM, the Middlebury women placed second overall, while the men placed third.

The Middlebury women opened the meet with multiple individual wins. Amanda Lee ’11 easily won the 3,000-meter steeplechase, with a time of 11:24.19 — a full 22 seconds ahead of her nearest competitor.

Another highlight of the meet was the women’s 1,500m run, in which Cailey Condit ’11, Rebecca Fanning ’12 and Chelsea Ward-Waller ’12 took first, second, and third, respectively, with Condit posting a time of 4:55.85.

First-years Emily Dodge ’13 and Christine Walsh ’13 also garnered points for the women’s team; Dodge placed second in the 100m hurdles with a time of 15.93, while Walsh took second with a time of 16.54.

Dodge also placed third in the long jump, with a jump of 5.08m.

The open 800m run was also a strong event for the women’s team. Kaitlyn Saldanha ’11 won the event in 2:20.95, with Sarah O’Brien ’13 following in third with a time of 2:23.51.

The women saw success in the 400m hurdles as well. Laura Dalton ’13 took first in 1:05.77, Alice Wisener ’11 placed second with a time of 1:06.60 and Katy Magill ’12 ran a 1:08.79 to take third.

The Middlebury women also took the top two spots in the 5000m run. Claire McIlvennie ’12 ran the distance in 18:52.32 to take first, while Marge Cramer ’12 took second with a time of 19:02.68.

In the field events, Elizabeth Faust ’11 took first in the high jump, with a jump of 1.52m, and Danielle Baker ’13 placed third in the pole vault, clearing 2.96m.

The women ended the meet on a strong note, with the 4x400m relay team of Anjuli Demers ’10, Juliet Ryan-Davis ’13, Dalton and Fanning taking first with a time of 4:02.55.

On the men’s side, the 4x100m relay team of James Huth ’12, John Montroy ’12, Jason Jan ’12 and Micah Wood ’10 placed second with a time of 44.06. Montroy also captured additional points for the men with his first-place race in the 110m hurdles, where he posted a time of 15.64. Stu Fram ’13 scored for Middlebury in the same event, placed second to Montroy with a time of 16.04.

A highlight of the meet for the men was the 800m run. Addison Godine ’11.5 took first, running a 1:57.73. Mike Waters ’10 followed close behind in second place with a time of 1:57.84, and Connor Wood ’11 ran a 1:59.42 to take third.

Jack Davies ’13 was Middlebury’s top performer in the 5,000m run, placing second with a time of 15:56.54. Also scoring for the men’s side was the 4x400m relay team of Micah Wood, Connor Wood, Godine and Waters, which placed second with a time of 3:23.03.

Top performers in the field events included Ken LeStrange ’12, who placed fourth in the hammer throw with a throw of 40.99m, and Marc Delaney ’12, who took third in the shot put with a throw of 12.04m.

Although the teams posted a number of strong performances, some athletes were not content with their races on Saturday. Steeplechaser Amanda Lee ’11 notes, however, that slower performances were likely a result of the race conditions and the proximity of the training trip to the race.

“The whole team put in a lot of good work in San Diego and people turned in some great performances at both of the meets out there,” said Lee.

“I know some people weren’t satisfied with how they competed on Saturday, but I think a lot of that is just some lingering fatigue from the huge training week we had in San Diego.”

“It was a great day overall,” added assistant track and field coach Nicole Wilkerson.

“Some people had season bests, others did not but competed well, which was important because it was a scored meet. We’re looking forward to better performances over the next two weeks as we head into the NESCAC Championship meet.”

With several members of the team close to hitting Nationals qualifying marks, the next few meets leading up to NESCACs should prove to be an exciting time for the men and women.