The Middlebury women's track and field team posted numerous program records and accumulated top-10 finishes during the Division III New England Championships in Boston. Ninth-ranked Tufts won the event with 112 points, followed by #5 Williams (108 points) and #4 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (78.50 points). The Panthers finished in a solid fourth place with 61 points. 
 
HIGHLIGHTS

• Claire Palmer lowered the program record in the 3,000-meter run on Sunday, crossing the line with a runner-up clocking of 9:40.88. Palmer's effort eclipses the previous record by nearly five seconds, set by Rory Kelly (9:45.85) in 2019.
• A few events earlier, Annelise Jensen raced to third in the 1,000 with a program-best time of 2:55.81. That time erased the prior clocking of 2:56.18 tallied by Nicole Schachman in 2016.
• In one of the last events contested, the 4x200 relay quartet of Katie Bruno, Melissa White, Ellie McDonald and Olive Lawrence blazed to a fourth-place showing of 1:43.29. The team earned that spot by two one-thousandths of a second and supplanted the previous time of 1:43.92 from three years ago. 
• Lawrence continued her impressive indoor season, matching her own program record of 7.72 seconds in the 60 to finish sixth.
• Middlebury showcased its depth with three additional top-five finishes. The distance medley relay (DMR) quartet of Lily Bulczynski, MK Cestaro, Caroline VanSchaick and Shea Fajen sprinted across the varying lengths to a second-place clocking of 12:05.47, while the 4x800 team of Naomi Atwood, Fajen, Jensen and VanSchaick was third in 9:16.72. The meet's final event saw the Panthers line up Mary Elliot, Jazmyn Hurley, Anna Mazur and Ella Pate, who won their 4x400 heat and garnered fifth with a time of 3:53.89.
• Bulczynski was third in the 600 (1:36.53), while Atwood secured a fifth-place showing during the 800 (2:14.28)
• The duo of Lilly Wurtz and Julia Tulimieri thrived in the throwing events. Wurtz was third in the shot put, covering 12.83 meters to land one centimeter away from the program record. Tulimieri was seventh in the event at 12.15m. Wurtz also competed in the weight throw, tossing the implement to the sixth-greatest distance of 15.22m.
• Additional top-10 efforts were recorded by Lily Haskins-Vaughan, who was ninth in the high jump (1.58m), and Grace Kaelber, who took 10th in the 5,000 (17:51.53).

NOTES

• The 4x200 quartet erased the preceding record of 1:43.92 set in 2023.
• The team's fourth-place finish marks the third top-five effort in the last four years.
• Individuals who place in the top-five spots and relays who finish in the top-three places earn United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) All-Region honors.

Middlebury will send select competitors to New York on Friday and Saturday for the All-Atlantic Region Track and Field Conference (AARTFC) Championships.