The #25 Middlebury men’s cross country team commences its 2025 campaign at the Silloway Maple Syrup Challenge on Saturday, September 6. The Panthers took third in last fall’s NESCAC Championship before earning a top-three finish at the NCAA Mideast Regional for the fourth consecutive season. The team earned its 14th straight appearance in the championship race in 2024. Middlebury returns four of the seven runners from last season’s league event and welcomes 10 first-year competitors to the squad.

Benjamin Hughes fronts the returners after earning regional recognition for the second-straight season and claiming All-NESCAC First Team honors with a fifth-place finish at the conference championship (24:58.7). Harry Griff collected his first all-region accolade after a top-35 finish at the regional meet (25:35.1) and was one of three Panthers to log his best 8K time at last year’s Connecticut College Invitational (25:32.4). 

Shef West returns as a team captain alongside Griff after earning spots in the league (25:19.8 - 21st), regional (26:11.9 - 49th) and national (26:29.7) lineups. Cameron Miles looks to improve on a strong rookie season that saw him drop 76 seconds between his first collegiate 8K clocking and his personal-record effort in New London (25:54.6). Zach Utz returns to the fold this season, with his personal-best time coming in his initial conference meet (26:07.4).

Wilkerson begins her 15th season as head coach while Bruce Ingersoll returns for his ninth fall with the Panthers. Under Wilkerson’s direction, the team won the NESCAC title in 2010 and has finished as the league runner-up on four occasions. The squad also posted a program-best seventh-place finish at the 2013 NCAA meet.