Track and field teams finish in middle of pack at D-III N.E.’s

Middlebury’s track and field teams traveled to Tufts University to compete in the New England Championships last weekend, and both teams saw a number of strong performances.

On the women’s side, Margo Cramer ’12 was Middlebury’s top finisher in the 800m run, placing third with a time of 2:13.52. Cramer was followed closely by first-year Juliet Ryan-Davis ’13, who took fifth with a time of 2:13.90.

Assistant Coach Nicole Wilkerson considers Cramer and Ryan-Davis’s performances in the 800m two of the highlights of the meet.

“Quite exciting was that [Ryan-Davis] ended up fifth overall in the 800m from the slowest section of the 800m. She won that heat by about five seconds, and her time not only placed her fifth overall but qualified her provisionally for Nationals,” said Wilkerson.

Cramer and Ryan-Davis, joined by Laura Dalton ’10 and Anjuli Demers ’10, were also part of the 4X400m relay team that took third. Posting a time of 3:36.82, the relay broke Middlebury’s school record by almost two seconds, and came within about one half of a second of the provisional qualifying time for Nationals.

Other top finishes for the Panther women included Dalton’s second place finish in the 400m hurdles (1:03.44), and a seventh place finish in the same event by Alice Wisener ’11 (1:06.67).

Amanda Lee ’11, who was previously named NESCAC Performer of the Week for her success in the steeplechase at the Princeton Invitational, took fifth in the 3000m steeplechase with a time of 11:30.51.

In the 400m dash, Grace Close ’11 placed 20th (1:01.44) while teammate Christina Kunycky ’11 took 22nd (1:02.10). First-year Sarah-O’Brien ’13 was Middlebury’s top performer in the 1500m run (5:00.28), and Julia Sisson ’12 was the top Panther in the heptathlon, placing ninth in the event.

In the field, first-year Grace Doering ’13 also brought in points for the women, taking fifth in the high jump (1.63m). In the pole vault, Danielle Baker ’13 took 10th (3.10m) and Jocelyn Breton ’12 placed 12th (2.95m).

The Middlebury men also had a strong presence in the 1500m run. Michael Schmidt ’12 took sixth in the event with a time 3:55.14, breaking the school record, which has been broken twice already this year. Wilkerson notes that Michael Waters ’10 had set the new record only two weeks ago at 3:55.24. “Kind of a fun battle going on there,” she commented.

Schmidt was followed in the 1500m by Jack Davies ’13 (3:56.46), Waters (3:56.60) and Victor Guevara ‘10 (3:57.82), who took 10th, 11th and 14th, respectively.

Micah Wood ’10 also earned points for the Panthers with his fifth place finish in the 400m dash (49.59). Wood was followed by teammates Ethan Mann ’12, who took 10th (50.04), and Connor Wood ’11, who placed 19th (50.86).

Mann, and Micah and Connor Wood were joined by Louis Cornacchione ’13 in the 4X400m relay, taking seventh with a time of 3:24.28. The men’s 4X800m relay of Davies, Waters, Guevara and Schmidt also scored, taking fifth in the event with a time of 7:53.06.

First-year Stu Fram ’13 garnered points for the men with his third place finish in the 110m hurdles (15.26).

Addison Godine ’11 also scored for the Panthers, taking seventh in the 800m run with a time of 1:54.53. The top Panther in the 400m hurdles was Jason Jan ’12, who took 13th with a time of 57.23. Middlebury’s top performer in the 3000m steeplechase was Nat Nelson ’11, who took 13th with a time of 10:01.40.

In the field, Silas Wong ’12 placed ninth in the triple jump (13.44m), while Nicholas Plugis ’11 scored for the Panthers in the javelin throw, taking fourth overall (57.06m).

The men’s and women’s track and field team now prepare for the Open New England Championship to be held next weekend at Northeastern University. Wilkerson is looking forward to the meet with great anticipation.

“[We’re] excited for Open New Englands –– overall a higher quality field to compete against,” she said.

“I’m looking for some season or lifetime bests to come from it, and the team will get some rest this week to be ready for it.”