Three school records and two events victories highlighted the Middlebury track & field teams' efforts in the Division III New England Championships. The three-day meet was hosted by Williams on the Lee Track. The Panther men finished third out of 32 scoring teams with 64 points, while the women were tied for seventh out of 34 teams with 37 points. Top-eight finishers in each event earned All-New England honors. The teams return to action next Friday and Saturday for the Open New England Championships hosted by Southern Connecticut.
During the women's competition, the 4x400-meter relay quartet of Lucy Lang, Ava O'Mara, Julia Munz and Cassie Kearney finished fifth with a school-record time of 3:53.72. The time breaks the old standard of 3:53.84 established in 2011.
Additional All-New England honors were posted by Kearney, who was third in the 800 meters (2:11.55), while Meg Wilson was right behind her in fourth (2:13.37). Abigail Nadler led a trio of Panthers to the line in the 1,500 meters, finishing fifth (4:38.86), while Rory Kelly was sixth (4:39.67) and Katherine MacCary crossed the line in seventh (4:40.35).
The 4x100-meter relay team of Lizzie Walkes, Kate Holly, Jaqueline Topping and McGrath was seventh (49.17). McGrath raced to eighth in the 200 meters (25.65), Catherine Walker was eighth during the 100-meter hurdles (15.56), while Munz finished eighth in the 400-meter hurdles (1:05.31).
Away from the track, Kreager Taber leapt to fourth place in the pole vault (11'6.25"), while Rebecca Gorman was sixth in the javelin (131'1").
On the men's side, numerous Panthers earned All-New England accolades. On the track, Nathan Hill won the 800 meters with a time of 1:50.56, while Minhaj Rahman claimed the hammer throw by 7'10" with a school-record toss of 195'11", surpassing his own mark of 188'10" set a few weeks ago.
The 4x100-meter relay team of Noah Wagner-Carlberg, Nicholas Hendrix, Arden Coleman and Conrado Banky tied the school record with a time of 42.08 to finish in third place. The time ties a mark set in 2018.
Other All-New England honors were posted by Theodore Henderson, who finished second in the 5,000 meters (14:56.28), while Hendrix was third in the 100 meters (10.76). Jonathan Perlman crossed the finish line in third place during the 1,500-meter run (3:53.37), just ahead of teammate Will Meyer in fourth (3:53.40). Jack Litowitz earned a fourth-place effort during the 3,000-meter steeplechase (9:35.65).
Off the track, John Natalone was third in the pole vault 15'1.50", while Zack Sieb finished seventh in the discus throw (143'11").
