The Middlebury track and field teams turned in a host of solid performances on Saturday when the Panthers competed at the University of Albany Spring Classic. The event featured no team scores with more than 20 collegiate programs, 12 club teams and field more than 650 competitors. The Panthers return to action next Saturday at the NESCAC Championships hosted by Amherst.
The top performance for the Panther women came in the 1,500-meter run, as Abigail Nadler won the race with a time of 4:36.37. Middlebury had three other runners place in the top 10 in the same event, as, Nicole Schachman placed sixth (4:43.13), Robin Vincent finished ninth (4:47.05) and Brianna Bisson was 10th (4:51.55).
The Panthers had four in the top 10 of the javelin toss, as Carly Andersen led the way with a third-place distance of 130'4". She was followed by Devon Player in fourth (126'2"), Julia Lothrop in seventh (107'10") and Mattea Preece in 10th (88'11").
Lucy Lang completed the 400 meters in 59.14 seconds to place fifth, winner her heat and stopping the clock as the top Division III finisher. In addition to winning the 1,500, Nadler won her heat in the 800-meter run and placed fifth overall in 2:18.42. The quartet of Lauren Henry, Natalie Cheung, Madison Goodstein and Chelsea Montello finished fifth in the 4x100-meter relay with a swift time of 50.18 seconds.
In the men's competition, many top-five finishes were recorded by the Panthers. Brendan Wood ran a time of 9:44.71 to place third in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
Jimmy Martinez won his section in the 100-meter dash and finished fifth overall with a time of 11.26 seconds. In the 110-meter high hurdles, Michael Pallozzi was the top Division III runner with a time of 15.41 to place fifth, while Brandon Cushman was fifth in the 400 hurdles with a time of 56.80. Sam Cartwright earned another fifth-place finish in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:02.94.
The 4x100-meter relay team combined for a time of 43.83 seconds to claim fifth place. Running for relay for the Panthers were Jeremy Carter, Joshua Howard, Pallozzi and Noah Wagner-Carlberg.
In the pole vault, John Natalone added another fifth-place effort as he cleared the bar at 13'5.25".
