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.
• The duo of Lilly Wurtz and Julia Tulimieri thrived in the throwing events. Wurtz was third in the shot put, covering 12.83 meters for a 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.
• 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).
• 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

• Wurtz's shot put mark betters Tulimieri's toss of 12.63m set during the Tufts Cupid Challenge.
• 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.