Regionals in the rain

Yes, it rained on Saturday. It was the 1st time all season that we had rain during a race. Was not a problem though because as Terry always says, 'Panthers hunt in the rain'. These Panthers proved Terry right. Once again, the results of the race were fantastic. Both teams had their best days of the season. One can see that just be reading the results.

The course itself was beautiful, in great condition and quite spectator friendly. There were many small rolling hills but nothing too significant, very wide to accommodate the size of the field and many curves in the woods portion on the course. Kudos to University of Southern Maine for all the work they did to get the course ready.

The women raced 1st and were very excited to race. It sure helped tremendously that the entire men's and women's team drove up to Maine to support their teammates. There were a few significant moments in the race that registered for me in what was otherwise a blur of running that I will write about.

The women started conservatively...smart. At the 1st mile or so, there were no Midd uniforms in the top 25. There were, however, 6 MIT uniforms there. Addie Tousley and Claire McIlvennie moved together and continue to compliment each other in racing. Once again, Sarah Lange is just racing, no thoughts, no constraints, and seems to be loving every minute of it. Sophia Spring started REALLY conservatively, I believe she was in about 106 at the mile. Erin Toner, Elise Moody-Roberts and Amanda Quinlan competed tough and looked good doing it. All of these ladies raced until just past the finish line, knowing how much of a difference a lean makes at the finish. 6 of the women earned All New England honors by finishing in the top 35.

A tie with MIT. Midd is getting a reputation for these tight finishes. At this meet, since both teams automatically qualified for NCAA's, the tie will hold and the teams are Co-Champions.

For the men's race, the course was a bit more slick and the rain was steady. The men could not have been prepared physically, mentally and emotionally. They got out well and established themselves exactly where they wanted to be. Michael Schimdt ran with the front pack and was never less than 10th place. Mike Waters and Jack Terrett again worked with each other with Waters putting in a big surge with about 1000m to go. Vic Guevara raced with everything he had but could not quite make up for the time missed from being sick last week. Jack Davies, Nat Nelson and Peter Hoffman raced for their team with everything they had.

The results of the men's race was interesting. The men finished in 7th with a point total of 164. Last year they were 6th with 213 points. In 2007, the team finished 12th. Three men earned All New England honors (Schmidt, Terrett, and Waters). The men did a great job out there.

A HUGE HUGE HUGE thank you to the parents of our team for the continued and constant support. It is amazing what you do for us week after week.

The women's team and Michael Schmidt will compete at Nationals on Saturday, the 22nd, hosted by Baldwin Wallace College in Ohio. At this point, I hope it rains.....

Nicole

NCAA New England Regional

NCAA Regional
Date: Sat. Nov. 14th
Place: Twin Brook Recreational Area - Cumberland, ME
Time:
11:00 AM - Women's 6K
12:00 PM - Men's 8K
1:00 PM - Awards






Stephanie Moroney passing Elly Teitsworth of Williams at the finish of the NESCAC Championships.









All-NESCAC Jack Terrett on the "Green Monster" at Wickham Park. Jack went on to finish 14th overall in the field of 121 runners.

Great showing at NESCAC's

This past Sunday, November 1st, both the men's and women's teams performed very well in our conference. In fact, the women could not have done any better, as they took the team title overall and the men's 4th place finish was the best finish from a men's team since 1991!

The meet was hosted by Trinity College and was held at Wicham Park. The Connecticut State meet was held on Saturday which was why the NESCAC meet was contested on Sunday. The benefit of racing on Sunday was that our team got to travel to the site on Saturday and had an opportunity to see the course. With the many high school races rolling through the trails and the rain on Saturday, the footing was sloppy and slow. There were 2 grass hills on the course that were deceivingly big. Regardless, our teams have been looking forward to the meet and the competition.

The women raced 1st, as will be the case for all of the remaining championship races this fall.

Few (of many) highlights from the women's race:
Sophomore Claire McIlvennie led for much of the race. She put down a strong pace and covered some surges from the other 4 women running with her. Her 4th place finish led the Panthers for the day.
Sophomore Elise Moody-Roberts is back! Elise got injured during preseason and the recovery precluded her from racing until the Albany meet just two weeks ago. Her overall fitness and strength is now beginning to come back. It is great to have her racing again. She finished in 7th overall and earned 1st team All-NESCAC honors.
Freshman Sarah Lange had the race of her career on Sunday. Not sure what she had for breakfast but everything just clicked for her! She said she felt strong and just went with it....she was 4th for the team and 9th overall.
Last 'highlight' on the women's team....once again, our top 7 women rotated. We have not had the same top 7 women finishers all season. The strength, talent and depth of the team is fantastic and very exciting. The only down side of this is trying to decide who to run at the next few meets....ah, such problems.

Onto the men's race...and again, will pick out a few of the highlights from the race.
Schmidtty.
It is great to have a consistent, talented and competitive young runner on the team. Michael again had a good race, finishing in 7th overall, improving on his finish from last year. Like any other runner, he was not particularly pleased with his performance. That desire to constantly improve and not be satisfied is what makes Schmidtty a great runner.
Peter Hoffman is coming on strong now for the team, as he did last year. On Sunday, he ended up being 4th for the team, tying for time with Mike Waters, who was 3rd for the team. In the 1st couple of races of the season, Peter was 10th for the team. He gives new meaning to starting conservatively and building up. We are really looking forward to Peter continuing his path and saving his best race for last.
Freshmen Jack Davies had a solid race and was particularly gutsy at the end. He was surrounded by the uniforms from Tufts and Bowdoin...tough position because the men knew those teams were (and will be) strong. He battled through valiantly as 10 runners finished within a span of 7 seconds. Glad that he is so tall and his lean is longer than others.
And last highlight on the men's side, the 4th place finish. Again, great place overall (best since 1991). Like Schmidtty though, the team is barely content with their finisih and are already hungry for their next race.

We will be resting some of the runners this weekend as they prepare for the D3 New England Championships on November 14th which also serves as the regional qualifier for the NCAA's.

Racing for Middlebury this weekend at the ECAC Championships (hosted by Williams College) will be:
Cate Brown, Sarah Lange, Amanda Lee, Steph Moroney, Emma Robson, Anne Sullivan, and Chelsea Ward-Waller. Dana Callahan will be the alternate. On the men's side, we will line up Bryan Dooley, Will Gibbons, Ben Kingstone, Antony Lee, Mac Stormont, Martin Sweeney and Ben Weir.
Terry will be following up with specific race information.
Have a great week!
Nicole

2009 NESCAC Pictures

Michael Schmidt charging the finish line for his 7th place ALL NESCAC finish.






















2009 ALL NESCAC TEAM
CONGRATULATIONS TO FIRST TEAM CLAIRE MCILVENNIE, ELISE MOODY ROBERTS, AND SECOND TEAM ADDIE TOUSLEY, AND SARAH LANGE














2009 MEN'S ALL-NESCAC TEAM
CONGRATULATIONS TO MICHAEL SCHMIDT AND JACK TERRETT












ELISE MOODY-ROBERTS AND SARAH LANGE BATTLE WILLIAMS NO. 1 JEN GOSSELS AT THE FINISH.







CATE BROWN AND ALL NESCAC ADDIE TOUSLEY AT TWO MILES






















ALL NESCAC JACK TERRETT KICKING IN TO THE FINISH





















All NESCAC FIRST TEAM CLAIRE MCILVENNIE AT THE 3 MILE MARK

ECAC DIV. 3 CHAMPIONSHIPS

Nat Nelson in the 2008 NESCAC Championships

ECAC Championship Information:
DATE: Saturday, Nov. 7th
LOCATION: Mt. Greylock High School (4 miles south of Williamstown on Rt. 7)
RACE TIMES:
11:00 Women's 6K
12:00 Men's 8K
1:00 Awards
Hope to see as many alumni and parents as possible.
Terry

NESCAC RACE INFO

Peter Hoffman in the 2008 NESCAC Championship Race








Cate Brown in the 2008 New England Championship

















NESCAC Meet Info
Date: Sunday, Nov. 1st
Location: Wickham Park, Manchester, CT
12:00 pm: Women's Varsity 6K race
1:00 pm: Men's Varsity 5 mile race
2:00 pm: Awards

We hope many of our parents, alums, and friends of Middlebury cross country can make the meet. The race promises to be an exciting one in arguably the most competitive conference in the country.
See you there,
Terry

Win at UAlbany

Both teams got to race on relatively flat and fast courses this past Saturday as they faced some great DI, II and III competition this weekend at the University of Albany.

On the women's side, they walked away with the WIN despite having rested both Margo Cramer and Steph Moroney.

For the men, junior Jack Terrett led the team, as both he and Mike Waters broke into the top 20 overall. Sophomore Michael Schmidt and Captain Vic Guevara both rested this weekend.

Photo's from the day, compliments of John Spring (Sophia's dad) speaks volumes for the performances.

Juliet Ryan-Davies & Emma Robson finishing in 2nd & 4th in the JV race.

Emma was in 10th place with a mile to go. At the finish, she was 4th.

Martin Sweeney was the top finisher for Midd in the men's JV race, as he managed to negative split the race.

Senior Bruce Hallett tested his strength in the JV race coming off an injury.

Erin Toner & Claire McIlvennie worked really well together for much of the race.

Amanda Lee looked great after putting together another outstanding race.

Nat Nelson and Sam Miller weaving through the large field. Each team was able to put 9 runners in the varsity race.

Jack Terrett easily passed 2 opponents in the last 200m.

The women's championship team was awarded with long sleeve t-shirts & watches.

43rd Albany Invitational

Hi Everyone,
After a highly successful New England Open Championship, the team is excited for the Albany Invitational which historically features a large field and some very strong Division 1 teams and a significant number of New York State teams. The schedule for the event is as follows:
9:00 AM: Women's JV 5K
9:35 AM: Men's JV 8K
10:05 AM: Women's Varsity 5K
10:40 AM: Men's Varsity 8K

Directions: NYS Thruway (I-87) to Exit 24, then follow I-90 East to Exit 2 (UAlbany Exit) Follow perimeter road to the south side of the campus. Parking is in Dutch Parking Lot which is close to a half mile from the start/finish. For parents who are bringing snacks or drinks for the team it will be best to leave them in your car as our bus will be parked in the Dutch parking lot and we are leaving directly after the awards to get back to campus.
Although it's an early start we hope to see as many parents and alumni as possible at the race to cheer on the Panthers in this highly competitive race.
It's a GREAT day to be a Panther!
Terry