A pair of school records during women's competition highlighted the Middlebury track & field teams efforts during the ECAC Championships on Friday and Saturday. The meet was held at the Ocean Breeze Track Center in Staten Island, New York. The Panther men finished 17th out of 51 teams competing, while the women tied for 23rd of 50 as athletes looked to qualify and better their respective marks for next weekend's NCAA Championships. Top-eight finishers in each event were awarded All-ECAC honors.
During the women's competition, Nicole Schachman won the 1,000-meter run with a school-record time of 2:56.18 for 10 points. Schachman's time erases the previous record of 2:57.37 set in 2011 by Sarah O'Brien.
In Friday's pentathlon, Maddie Pronovost was sixth amassing 2,992 points for three team points. That total breaks her own school record of 2,974 she set just a few weeks ago during the Division III New England Championships. Pronovost's efforts were highlighted by a third-place finish (16'9.5") in the long jump.
Another top-10 finish was tallied by Katherine MacCary in the 3,000-meter run (10th, 10:31.88).
On the men's side, the 4x400-meter relay team of Jimmy Martinez, James Mulliken, Brandon Cushman and Alex Nichols earned All-ECAC honors by crossing the line in third place with a time of 3:16.98, good for six points. Fourth-place efforts and five points came from both Kevin Serrao in the 800-meter run (1:53.95) and Jonathan Perlman during the mile run (4:18.24).
Off the track, John Natalone cleared the pole vault bar at 14'11.5" for seventh place and two team points.
In Friday's Tufts' Last Chance Meet, the men's distance medley relay of Serrao, Lucas Carpinello, Mulliken and Sam Cartwright crossed the line fourth with a time of 10:04.05, the 10th-fastest time in the country this winter. Sebastian Matt raced to third in the 5,000-meter run (14:44.34).
Selected Panthers will be selected to participate in the NCAA Indoor Championship next Friday and Saturday at the Charles Benson Bear '39 Rec and Athletic Center in Grinnell, Iowa.
