The Middlebury track & field teams competed in a quad meet Saturday featuring Plattsburgh State, Wheaton (Mass.), the Panthers and the hosts of Springfield. The women won the meet with a total of 192.50 points, just ahead of second-place Springfield's 188, while the men finished third with 171 behind Plattsburgh State (197) and Springfield (174). Middlebury returns to action Saturday when it hosts the Panther Spring Invitational on Dragone Track.
On the women's side, the Panthers picked up victories in a total of nine events. Robin Vincent won the 800-meter dash (2:17.10), Katherine MacCary led the field to the line in the 1,500-meter run (4:58.71), while Paige Fernandez was victorious in the 400-meter hurdles (1:05.63). The 4x400-meter relay of Fernandez, Lucy Lang, Perri Silverhart and Basia Osborne was the first to cross the finish line in 4:08.32.
In field events, Kristin Kimble claimed the event title in the high jump (5'0.25"), Kreager Taber won the pole vault competition (10'6"), while Jane Freda earned the long jump crown (16'10.5"). Pippa Raffel bounced to a winning distance of 33'2" in the triple jump, while Devon Player tossed the javelin to a victorious mark of 134'4".
During the men's competition, the Panthers were victorious in four events with numerous runner-up finishes. Ascencion Aispuro won the 1,500-meter run (4:05.51), while Benjamin Hill was second (4:13.29). Michael Pallozzi claimed the individual title in the 110-meter hurdles (15.76), just ahead of teammate Tyler Farrell (15.97).
Additional second-place efforts on the track were posted by Farrell in the 400-meter hurdles (57.08) and Aispuro in the 800-meter run (2:00.21).
Away from the track, John Natalone was a two-time winner for the Panthers. He picked up the victory in both the pole vault clearing the bar at 13'11.25", while leaping to a mark of 19'10.25" in the long jump. Tyler Chaisson secured the victory in the discus throw (132'0") and was second in the shot put (46'9.5"), Brenden Edwards finished in the runner-up spot behind Chaisson in the discus throw (130'7"), while Taylor Moore threw the javelin to a second-place length of 166'4".
