The Middlebury men's track and field team opened the indoor season claiming its own Snowflake Invitational, highlighted by a school record from Sam Opawuyi in the triple jump. The Panthers tallied 264.5 points, while St. Lawrence (162.5 points) and Union (113 points) rounded out the podium.
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• Opawuyi broke his own school record in the triple jump with a winning distance of 13.61 meters, eclipsing the previous effort of 13.31m which he established last winter.
• Caleb Smith earned the sweep for Middlebury in the jumping events, hitting the sand with a first-place mark of 6.63m in the long jump, while teammate Sam McGarrahan was second (6.45m).
• In the weight throw, Dave Filias claimed the title with a heave of 16.17m, while Dan Urchuk was second at 14.70m.
• A trio of Panthers tallied top-three finishes in the shot put, paced by Urchuk with a victorious distance of 14.26m, while Logan Cosgrove (13.89m) and Ben Martin (12.85m) were second and third, respectively.
• Other wins during field events came from McGarrahan in the high jump (1.95m), narrowly missing the school record by .01 meters. Henry Ericson earned the pole vault win at 4.55m, while Michael Vanesko was second (4.10m).
• Parker Loupessis won the 60m hurdles with a clocking of 8.66 seconds, while Jefferson Hill was close behind with a runner-up time of 8.71.
• Xander Swann led the field to the finish line in the 400 (49.22), while Emerson Kington raced to a runner-up showing (50.45).
• Joey Caspar claimed the 600 (1:24.74) for his initial collegiate win.
• In the day's quickest event, Marco Motroni won the 60m dash (6.93), edging teammate Donnell Harvey Jr.'s clocking of 6.94 seconds.
• Additional top-three efforts were turned in by Tony Wang (second -12.80m) and Santi Canella (third - 12.47m) in the triple jump, Drew McStay in the high jump (third - 1.85m) and Will Lavey during the 1,000 (third - 2:32.83).
• The 4x400 relay quartet of Hayden Bobowick, Kington, Isaiah Izzo Lizardi and Nate Gardner crossed the line with a runner-up clocking of 3:31.19.

NOTES

• Urchuk's heave in the shot put was a personal-best toss.

The Panthers return to competition on Friday and Saturday when they host the Middlebury Winter Classic.