The Middlebury men's track and field team had several sprinters and distance runners compete at the Boston University (BU) David Hemery Valentine Invitational on Saturday. The prestigious meet features professional athletes and competitors across all three NCAA divisions. 
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• Late Friday night, Middlebury's Owen Johnson, Peter Hansen, Lachlan Bishop and Max Cluss finished 27th in the distance medley relay (DMR) with a time of 10:28.48.
• Marco Motroni led the Panthers in the first event of the day, placing 11th out of 84 competitors in the 60-meter dash (7.08). Richard Clark clocked in with a season-best time of 7.22.
• In the 800, all three runners finished in under two minutes. Bishop paced the trio with a time of 1:56.17, while Johnny LaFortune (1:57.58) and Will Lavey (1:58.89) were close behind in a race featuring 328 athletes.
• The 400 saw 246 sprinters, with Hansen cracking into the top-100. He stopped the clock in 49.85, breaking the 50-second barrier for the first time in his career. Luke Hayes also recorded a personal-best clocking (50.80) in the event. 
• Middlebury had seven sprinters in the 200. Aidan Castanon led the pack clocking in at 22.76. Clark was right behind with a time of 22.77, followed by Hansen (22.78). 
• The mile featured over 400 runners, with Max Cluss leading Middlebury with a time of 4:10.99. Zach Utz (4:20.68) and Thomas West (4:24.44) also competed in the event. 
• Peter Burke competed in the 3,000, clocking in at 8:51.13.
• The 5,000 was the final event of the day, not starting until after 10:00 p.m. Zander Kessler closed out the competition for the Panthers with a time of 15:03.63.

NOTES

• LaFortune and Lavey both recorded personal best times in the 800. Lavey shaved nearly five seconds off of his previous mark.

 
Middlebury is idle until February 24 and 25 when it heads to the TRACK at New Balance for the Division III New England Championships.