Open New England Results

October 9, 2006

This past Saturday, near perfect running conditions welcomed the Panthers at Franklin Park in Boston where the Open New England Championships were being contested. At race time, the conditions were in the mid-60’s, and partly sunny but definitely warming up throughout the day. The course is mostly grass and dirt terrain and was fairly dry, setting the stage for some fantastic times and performances.

We had to limit our entries for this competition, only 7 runners in each of the Men’s and Women’s Varsity and Junior Varsity race.

The Junior Varsity women lined up first and went out quickly over the fast, flat terrain. At the first mile, the field was very closely packed and running 4 to 5 runners across. Emily Jacobs ran a conservative 1st mile and was able to reel people in over the next 2 miles, cruising to the finish in 24th place overall (19:35). Chrissy Fulton, running a strong race from the gun, crossed the line 1 second later in 19:56, claiming 45th place. First-year Emily Alison came on with a strong kick and secured 50th place overall (19:59). Kylie Anderson, making her debut at Open’s as a senior, charged through the finish line in 61st place in an impressive time of 20:08. Ceara Danaher navigated through a thick pack in the last mile and took 72nd place overall (20:15). Alison Brown, continuing to work through some nagging injuries stepped up in the race again and came through the finish in 91st place (20:28). Amanda Quinlan, coming off of a slight head cold, ran a fast last half mile of the race and secured 100th place overall in a time of 20:32. The women scored 210 points which earned them 8th place in the race. Overall, there were 23 teams competing in the JV race and 300 runners.
The varsity women were the next race to go off and were excited about the quick times posted by the junior squad. A total of 46 full teams (314 runners) lined up at the start. At the 1st mile, no clear lead was established and the field was still thick with runners. After a convincing win at the Vermont State meet last weekend, Erin Archard seemed to enjoy the competition. She pulled through the last mile very strong and finished in 15th place in a blistering time of 18:08. As had been the case all year, the top 5 runners from Midd ran close to each other, putting very little time between their 1 through 5 runners. Only 12 seconds behind Erin, fellow Mainer Andi Giddings took 23rd place (18:20). Alexandra Krieg was our 3rd runner for the day again and took 30th place overall, in a time of 18:29. Makely Lyon had a fantastic day on the course, after coming off of a tough academic week at Midd. She blistered through the 3+ miles in a time of 18:42, good for 50th place. Devyn Young, a senior competing in her first XC season for Midd after having been on the crew team, continues to display a tremendous amount of natural talent. She finished 4 seconds behind Makely in 53rd. Claire Schultz continues to close in on our top 5 and again, had a stellar race. She moved to #6 for the team in 18:56 (66th). Annie Sullivan rounded out the Panthers in 101st at 19:17.
In overall team standings, Boston University won the meet. Middlebury came in 3rd, an absolutely outstanding performance.

Next on the schedule was the Varsity Men’s 8k race. Again, an intimidating and deep field lined up on the starting line. A total of 307 runners lined up – 45 teams! As soon as the gun went off, the Panthers were carried through the blistering pace through the first mile. Jimmy Butcher rolled through the course, enjoying having the company of other fast athletes to help carry the quick pace. He strong efforts paid off as he sprinted to the finish line in 16th place overall (25:14). He was the 2nd D3 athlete. Our next 5 runners were able to help each other out through out the race, making up a lot of real estate in the last 2 miles. Chris Free moved aggressively through the last 1.5 miles, coming through the finish in 146th place (26:29). Will McDonough came in 3rd for the Panthers, taking 149th place with a time of 26:31. 5 seconds later, Bruce Hallett came through in 159th place (26:36). Jack Wambach, showing methodical improvement in each race, rounded out our 5 scorers, coming through the finish with a time of 26:38 (164th place). Peter Murphy closed right on the heels of Jack in 172nd (172). Mike Waters, having run the 1st 3 miles with his teammates, fell back slightly in the 4th mile but came on in the last mile with a great kick. His efforts earned him 200th place, 27:04 for 8k. With Jimmy off the front, 14 seconds separated runners 2 through 6 for the men. The tight pack could prove to be very helpful in the future Championship meets.
The overall team title went to UMass/Lowell with a point total of 76. Middlebury finished 22nd.

So onto the junior varsity Men’s race….292 runners total, 24 teams. Chris Pelliccia, coming on strong as the season develops, came through as our top finisher in that race. His time of 26:43 (46th) actually put him as our 6th fastest runner of the day (breaking into the varsity times). Rainey Johnson, enjoying the crowded competitive field came in just over the 27-minute mark (27:10), claiming 80th place. Dan Kaufman continues to improve not only week to week but above last year as well. He stopped the clock at 27:25 (100th). Mike Panzer followed 5 seconds back, good for 106th. Andrew Ruoss and Patrick Johnson worked together for much of the race, with Andrew coming in 161st (28:18) and Patrick in 169th (28:22).
The men took 15th place in the overall team standings with a point total of 387.

As a reminder, we are back to our full squads this week for racing. We will be at the University of Albany. The teams will be off the following weekend (20th – 21st) and then onto the NESCAC Championship, hosted by Conn College!

Nicole Wilkerson