The Middlebury men's track and field team opened its annual spring break trip at the University of California Riverside Spring Classic. The program earned three event victories and multiple top-10 performances in an invite that featured athletes from all three divisions.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Owen Johnson paced Middlebury in the 5,000-meter run, securing the top position with a clocking of 15:18.90. Joining Johnson in the top five were Ethan Sholk (15:20.77), Nathan Szubin (15:21.98), Felix Rogovin (15:41.94) and Harry Griff (16:01.23). Liam Edson secured seventh with his time of 16:11.80, while Sullivan Dunn (16:25.14) and Shef West (17:02.52) claimed eighth and 10th.
• The Panthers nabbed six of the top seven spots during the 1,500. Benjamin Prestes led the way with an effort of 3:54.87, followed by Sholk in second at 3:56.66. Solomon McDow (3:59.61), Kieran McBride (3:59.83) and Owen Johnson (4:00.92) crossed the line in fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively. Zach Utz secured seventh, stopping the clock at 4:02.96.
• Middlebury swept the podium in the 800. Benjamin Hughes prevailed with a clocking of 1:54.33, while Lachlan Bishop took second at 1.54.76 and Cameron Miles claimed bronze (1:55.14). Also finishing among the top 10 were Prestes (1:55.20), Jakob Kuelps (1:57.28), McDow (1:58.79) and Ian Larkin (1:59.09) in fourth, seventh, eighth and 10th, respectively.
• Donnell Harvey Jr. secured runner-up honors in the 100, stopping the clock in 10.65 seconds. Aidan Castanon was 0.21 seconds behind for fourth place.
• During the 400 hurdles, Nate Gardner secured second with a time of 54.02 seconds. Parker Loupessis earned sixth place at 56.91, while Finn Albright finished less than a second behind for eighth (57.55).
• Three Panthers grabbed spots in the top five during the javelin. In his final attempt, Adam Ferreira recorded a throw of 57.51 meters to grab silver. Caleb Smith (49.69m) and Sam Thompson (49.12m) were separated by less than a meter to nab fourth and fifth.
• A trio of Middlebury athletes tallied top-10 placings in the hammer throw. Sam Spector led the way, heaving the implement 51.69 meters to secure fourth. Andreas Panagos (42.14m) and Gavin Hetherington (38.39m) took eighth and ninth, respectively.
• Toby Warmack led the charge in the high jump, tying for the second-highest leap of the event. He cleared 1.95m for fourth, while Drew McStay earned a share of seventh at 1.80m.
• In the 400, Joey Caspar claimed fourth with a time of 47.57 seconds. Emerson Kington was five spots behind, stopping the clock at 48.84.
• A pair of Panthers competed in the triple jump. Jed Nelson recorded a jump of 13.65m on his final attempt to secure fifth. Warmack was sixth with his best leap of 13.35m.
• Ben Martin (44.59m) and Gavin Hetherington (42.94m) were fifth and seventh, respectively, in the discus.
• Harvey Jr. (21.67) and Caspar (21.71) were separated by four-hundredths of a second in the 200, earning sixth and seventh.
• Smith hit the sand with a leap of 7.00m for seventh in the long jump.
• The Panthers had two top-10 placings in the 110 hurdles. Quinn Kennedy crossed the line in seventh with a time of 15.44 seconds, while Loupessis was 0.44 ticks behind in 10th.
• In the pole vault, Benoit Skilton cleared a height of 4.15m to earn eighth.
• Paganos claimed ninth place in the shot put with a toss of 12.55m.

NOTES

• Caspar's 400 time resets the Middlebury mark of 47.71 seconds set by Jimmy Martinez in 2019.
• Smith's mark in the long jump ties the program record set by Enrique de la Mata in 1986.
• Prestes shaved nearly five seconds off his previous best in the 1,500, while Gardner knocked over a second off his 400 hurdles mark.
• Harvey Jr's. 200 dash time was seven-hundredths of a second off the program mark. 
• Skilton missed his career-best mark in the pole vault by one-hundredth of a meter.

The Panthers close out their west coast swing by competing in the Mangrum Invitational on Friday, March 27 at 1:00 p.m. ET.