Kevin Serrao broke a 12-year old program mark in the 800-meter run, highlighting the Middlebury track & field teams' performances in the Division III New England Championships hosted by Springfield. The Panther women finished fourth out of 31 teams competing with 50 points, while the men were tied for ninth out of 31 teams with 22 points. Top-eight finishers in each event earned All-New England honors.
On the women's side, numerous Panthers earned All-New England accolades. On the track, Lauren Bougioukas led three Panthers to the line in the 800-meter run, finishing second with a time of 2:15.20. Isabella Alfaro was fifth in 2:16.12, while Brianna Bisson crossed the line eighth (2:17.24).
The 4x400-meter relay quartet of Lucy Lang, Kate McCluskey, Paige Fernandez and Alexandra Morris were second with a time of 3:54.45, while Abigail Nadler ran to a third-place finish in the 1,500-meter run (4:33.33). Fernandez was eighth in the 400-meter hurdles with a mark of 1:05.26.
Away from the track, Carly Andersen won the javelin throw with her best toss traveling 134'8", while Devon Player was seventh (120'11"). Kreager Taber wound up third in the pole vault competition (10'11.75"), while Maddie Pronovost accumulated 3,819 points for a fifth-place showing in the heptathlon.
During the men's competition, Serrao earned All-New England accolades with his fourth-place finish in the event. With his time of 1:52.29, Serrao lowers the mark of 1:52.61 set by Nick Digani in 2004. Jimmy Martinez picked up All-New England accolades, winning the 400-meter dash with a time of 48.43, victorious by .78 seconds and recording 10 team points.
Off the track, John Natalone tallied the other seven points for the Panthers, tying for second in the pole vault at 14'9".
Other top-10 finishes came from Jonathan Perlman in the 1,500-meter run (3:57.91, ninth), while Tyler Farrell was 10th in the 400-meter hurdles (56.16).
The teams will return to action at Southern Connecticut State next Friday and Saturday for the Open New England Championships.
