The Middlebury men's track and field team placed seventh with 34.5 points at the Division III New England Championships hosted by Mount Holyoke this weekend. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology claimed the crown with 108.5 points, followed by Tufts (78.5 points) and Bowdoin (64 points). 
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• Dave Filias continued his dominance in the hammer throw, claiming the title in the event with a toss of 60.87 meters on Friday afternoon. Filias' victorious toss was over five meters further than the runner-up and was the second mark over 60 meters this season.
• On the first day of competition, Caleb Smith won three of five events to kick off the decathlon. The Panther was victorious in the long (6.99m) and high jumps (1.85m), as well as the shot put (11.61m). Smith followed up his day-one performance with wins in the 110-meter hurdles (16.15 seconds), the discus (35.79m) and the javelin (51.43m) to claim the overall title. His 6,633 points rank fifth currently in Division III. 
• Xander Swann placed third in the 400 hurdles with a personal-best time of 53.16 seconds. Parker Loupessis also finished in the top-10 spots, clocking in at 55.66 to place ninth.
• Middlebury had a pair of top-10 finishes in the discus, with both Panthers recording personal-record tosses. Dan Urchuk led the way with a fifth-place showing (46.02), while Samuel Maxwell was 10th (43.81m). 
• Sam Opawuyi hit the sand at 13.69m to place sixth overall.
• Aiden Tam qualified for the final round of the 110 hurdles, placing seventh with a time of 15.25 seconds.
• Also having a strong showing on the day was Sam McGarrahan who placed eighth in the high jump (1.89m) and 13th in the long jump (6.51m).
• Logan Cosgrove finished in eighth in the shot put, launching the implement 14.16m.

The Panthers will split the squad up next weekend, with some individuals competing in the Open New England Championship and others at the Farley Inter Regional Extravaganza at Williams.