NESCAC Results
On Saturday, the 28th the Men’s and Women’s team competed in the NESCAC Championship in Harkness State Park in New London, CT.
Very, very heavy rains and strong, gusty winds welcomed the teams on a course that was very flat and mostly grass. Harkness State Park is situated right on the ocean, which further exacerbated the winds. The flooding from the rain actually caused the ocean tides to affect some parts of the course. For the Panthers, the sleet, hurricane like winds, and flooding only resulted in raising the level of excitement. They were ready to compete, both physically and mentally and the weather was hardly a factor.
The men began the day off, with each of the 11 NESCAC schools lining up 12 individuals for a field of 126 athletes. Due to the 40+ mile an hour winds, tactically the race played out differently. Most of the entire pack of runners remained together for the first mile or so and the pace was very modest. At about 1 mile, a large group of about 12 runners began to gradually pull away. As expected, Jimmy Butcher was in that group and doing his share of pushing the pace. Middlebury had 3 runners (Will McDonough, Chris Free, and Bruce Hallett) in the next group of about 40 athletes. At about the 1.5 mile mark, the men cross (swim) through about 120m of marshy, bog terrain. In the bog, Jimmy lost his shoe and fell, losing a few valuable places. Meanwhile, Peter Murphy began pursuing a string of runners in front of him, making up extremely valuable points in the process. Senior Chris Pelliccia pushed a strong 3rd mile into the wind, putting together one of his best races of the season. Going through the marsh for the second time with only 1 shoe, Jimmy slipped and was down again. Remarkably, Jimmy came through in 9th place overall, earning 2nd team all-NESCAC. Will passed some key runners from opposing teams in the last half mile and came in 27th. Bruce Hallett used his height and strength to his full advantage and crossed through in 34th. Peter Murphy had the best race of his Middlebury career to date and was 4 places behind Bruce. Chris Pelliccia, was our critical 5th man. He ran with determination and guts and jockeyed for position up to the finish, coming in 59th. Chris Free struggled a bit over the 2nd half of course after breaking the wind for a pack of runners over the 1st half of the race. He came in 64th, followed by Jack Wambach in 72nd. Mike Waters muscled his way through the 5 miles, never looking defeated despite the conditions. He came in 80th overall. Victor Guevara, competing in only his 2nd race of the season show a lot of potential for the future. He came in 93rd. Sophomore Dan Kaufman closed right on his heels in 96th place. First-years Peter Hoffman and Mike Panzer came in 107th and 118th places respectively. Mike had suffered through an injury mid-way through the race but gutted it to the finish.
The men had some great individual performances but can see where they can improve as a team as well. They are already hungry to line up again. The team finished in 6th place, just 2 points behind nationally-ranked Wesleyan.
The women took some warm-up strides as the winds and rains actually picked up in intensity. Unlike the men’s race though, the women’s race became strung out almost from the starting gun. A group of Amherst women set a fast pace, but seniors Andi Giddings and Erin Archard pressed on, keeping them within their sights. Running along side the ocean and directly into the wind, Alexandra Krieg found herself behind a trio of runners from Williams. At that point, she boldly passed them and moved on to the next group of runners. The women went through the marshy bog at around mile 3. Andi moved into 4th position at the point and held onto that place to the finish. She was our top scorer of the day. Erin Archard sprinted the last 450m like she was on a down hill track and came in 8th place. Alexandra continued the fun of passing people and scored big for the team, coming in 10th place. Claire Schultz improves dramatically each week, as the stakes for the team get higher and higher. She was 4th for the team in 16th. First-year Emily Allison also had the best race of her season by far. She came in 33rd overall, serving as our critical 5th man. Holding steady and consistently strong, Devyn Young put together another fine race, earning 36th. Annie Sullivan, running in her home state, quickly romped through the mud and puddles, coming in 42nd. Chrissy Fulton had a great day on the course, finishing close to Annie after having closed a considerabe gap over the last mile. She came in 48th. Makely Lyon was the next Panther across the finish in 57th, followed by Emily Jacobs in 68th. Competing in her 1st NESCAC race as a senior, Kylie Taylor showed she actually loves running in the rain! She came in 72nd place, followed by Ceara Danaher in 99th.
The women’s race was tightly contested this year with only 7 points separating teams 1 through 4. Midd finished in 4th place and like the men, are very excited to have the opportunity to compete again.
Our top 7 runners from each team will be training through this weekend and cheering on their teammates when they compete at the ECAC Championships, hosted by Williams College.
A special note of sincere gratitude to all of the parents, alumni, friends and teammates that came to support the teams this weekend.
THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
We have the best support and fan group ever!
Very, very heavy rains and strong, gusty winds welcomed the teams on a course that was very flat and mostly grass. Harkness State Park is situated right on the ocean, which further exacerbated the winds. The flooding from the rain actually caused the ocean tides to affect some parts of the course. For the Panthers, the sleet, hurricane like winds, and flooding only resulted in raising the level of excitement. They were ready to compete, both physically and mentally and the weather was hardly a factor.
The men began the day off, with each of the 11 NESCAC schools lining up 12 individuals for a field of 126 athletes. Due to the 40+ mile an hour winds, tactically the race played out differently. Most of the entire pack of runners remained together for the first mile or so and the pace was very modest. At about 1 mile, a large group of about 12 runners began to gradually pull away. As expected, Jimmy Butcher was in that group and doing his share of pushing the pace. Middlebury had 3 runners (Will McDonough, Chris Free, and Bruce Hallett) in the next group of about 40 athletes. At about the 1.5 mile mark, the men cross (swim) through about 120m of marshy, bog terrain. In the bog, Jimmy lost his shoe and fell, losing a few valuable places. Meanwhile, Peter Murphy began pursuing a string of runners in front of him, making up extremely valuable points in the process. Senior Chris Pelliccia pushed a strong 3rd mile into the wind, putting together one of his best races of the season. Going through the marsh for the second time with only 1 shoe, Jimmy slipped and was down again. Remarkably, Jimmy came through in 9th place overall, earning 2nd team all-NESCAC. Will passed some key runners from opposing teams in the last half mile and came in 27th. Bruce Hallett used his height and strength to his full advantage and crossed through in 34th. Peter Murphy had the best race of his Middlebury career to date and was 4 places behind Bruce. Chris Pelliccia, was our critical 5th man. He ran with determination and guts and jockeyed for position up to the finish, coming in 59th. Chris Free struggled a bit over the 2nd half of course after breaking the wind for a pack of runners over the 1st half of the race. He came in 64th, followed by Jack Wambach in 72nd. Mike Waters muscled his way through the 5 miles, never looking defeated despite the conditions. He came in 80th overall. Victor Guevara, competing in only his 2nd race of the season show a lot of potential for the future. He came in 93rd. Sophomore Dan Kaufman closed right on his heels in 96th place. First-years Peter Hoffman and Mike Panzer came in 107th and 118th places respectively. Mike had suffered through an injury mid-way through the race but gutted it to the finish.
The men had some great individual performances but can see where they can improve as a team as well. They are already hungry to line up again. The team finished in 6th place, just 2 points behind nationally-ranked Wesleyan.
The women took some warm-up strides as the winds and rains actually picked up in intensity. Unlike the men’s race though, the women’s race became strung out almost from the starting gun. A group of Amherst women set a fast pace, but seniors Andi Giddings and Erin Archard pressed on, keeping them within their sights. Running along side the ocean and directly into the wind, Alexandra Krieg found herself behind a trio of runners from Williams. At that point, she boldly passed them and moved on to the next group of runners. The women went through the marshy bog at around mile 3. Andi moved into 4th position at the point and held onto that place to the finish. She was our top scorer of the day. Erin Archard sprinted the last 450m like she was on a down hill track and came in 8th place. Alexandra continued the fun of passing people and scored big for the team, coming in 10th place. Claire Schultz improves dramatically each week, as the stakes for the team get higher and higher. She was 4th for the team in 16th. First-year Emily Allison also had the best race of her season by far. She came in 33rd overall, serving as our critical 5th man. Holding steady and consistently strong, Devyn Young put together another fine race, earning 36th. Annie Sullivan, running in her home state, quickly romped through the mud and puddles, coming in 42nd. Chrissy Fulton had a great day on the course, finishing close to Annie after having closed a considerabe gap over the last mile. She came in 48th. Makely Lyon was the next Panther across the finish in 57th, followed by Emily Jacobs in 68th. Competing in her 1st NESCAC race as a senior, Kylie Taylor showed she actually loves running in the rain! She came in 72nd place, followed by Ceara Danaher in 99th.
The women’s race was tightly contested this year with only 7 points separating teams 1 through 4. Midd finished in 4th place and like the men, are very excited to have the opportunity to compete again.
Our top 7 runners from each team will be training through this weekend and cheering on their teammates when they compete at the ECAC Championships, hosted by Williams College.
A special note of sincere gratitude to all of the parents, alumni, friends and teammates that came to support the teams this weekend.
THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
We have the best support and fan group ever!
posted by Middlebury College Cross Country @ 11:40 AM
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