The Middlebury cross country teams began their respective 2016 seasons by competing at the Dartmouth Invitational at the Hanover Country Club. The women, ranked eighth nationally, finished second of three teams behind host Dartmouth, while the 21st-ranked men were third of four squads in back of the host Big Green and runner-up UMass Lowell. After two weeks off from competition, Middlebury returns to action Saturday, September 24 when it races in the Purple Valley Classic at Williams.

On a course that is traditionally tough and hilly, Abigail Nadler led the Panther women to the finish line. In a 6K race comprised of 39 women, Nadler crossed the stripe in eighth place (23:47.15), while Erzsie Nagy was right behind in 10th place (23:51.27). Alyssa Taylor was next in 16th place (24:23.65), while Katherine MacCary (17th, 24:34.72) and Sasha Whittle (19th, 24:45.64) completed the scorers.

During the men's 8K race consisting of 45 participants, Brian Rich led the Panther scorers with a 12th-place finish (26:12.45). Miles Meijer was the next to cross in 20th place (26:40.22), while Connor Evans wound up 24th (26:47.85). Jonathan Perlman was just seconds behind in 26th place (26:50.44), while Kevin Serrao rounded out the scorers for the men via a 27th-place effort (26:51.72).