The 21st-ranked Middlebury women's track & field team earned its third NESCAC Championship in program history on Saturday. The Panthers claimed the crown with 149 points, highlighted by four first-place finishes, edging runner-up Tufts by seven points (142). Bowdoin rounded out the top-three squads with 116 points. The meet was hosted by Hamilton, with events taking place at the Pritchard Track. Middlebury previously won the league title in 1998 and 2000, while placing in the top three in each championship since 2004. The top-three finishers and relay squads in each event garnered All-NESCAC honors.  
  Cassie Kearney tallied a pair of individual victories to fuel the Panther effort, winning both the 800-meter and 1,500m.  She claimed the 800 with a personal-best time of 2:09.51, which was 2.32 seconds faster than the next runner. In the 1,500m, she ran away with the title, crossing the finish line in 4:26.64, nearly four seconds in front of the runner-up. Both times are NESCAC Championship meet records and qualified her for the Division III New England Championships.
  The 4x800m relay quartet of Kearney, Emily Bulczynski, Winnie Wang and Audrey Grimes crossed the finish line with a winning time of 9:17.10. Jaxon Palmer recorded the fourth victory for the Panthers in the meet, tossing the javelin to a triumphant distance of 114'4".

Runner-up efforts on the track were earned by Ciara Dale in the 400m hurdles and Kate Kenny during the 3,000m steeplechase. Dale stopped the clock with a personal-record time of 1:03.27.  Kenny crossed the finish line in 10:51.61, lowering her collegiate-best time by 5.55 seconds. Mary Scott Robinson hurled the shot put to a second-place distance of 37'11.5".

The 4x100m relay team of Joely Virzi, Michelle Louie, Eva Kaiden and Cady Barns improved its own school record in the event on Saturday, finishing third with a clocking of 48.53. The 4x400m relay quartet of Nicole Johnson, Louie, Dale and Elle Thompson stopped the clock with the third-fastest time of 3:56.13.
  A trio of fourth-place finishes were tallied during the championship, with each Panther posting a personal-best effort. Katelyn Pease was fourth in the 1,500m with a time of 4:37.59, setting a personal record by nearly five seconds. Johnson recorded her collegiate-best time of 57.96 in the 400m, while Barns leaned across the line in the 100m dash in 12.35 to shave 0.17 seconds off her best time.

Selected individuals who recorded qualifying times will return to action next Friday and Saturday at the Division III New England Championships hosted by Williams.