MIDDLEBURY — The Middlebury College men’s track and field team on Saturday earned its second straight NESCAC title — and the second in program history — by scoring 201 points to easily outdistance second-place Tufts.
The Middlebury women posted 145.5 points, second only to Williams (165) and well ahead of third-place Bowdoin (109).
The Middlebury men claimed nine event wins in competition at Dragone Field in Middlebury on a cold, wet and windy day. Nicholas Hendrix earned part of three titles, claiming both the 100-meter (10.60) and the 200 meters (21.71) dashes and also running on the winning 4×100-meter relay team along with Noah Wagner-Carlberg, Arden Coleman and Conrado Banky. That quartet won by a tenth of a second with a time of 42.76.
The Panthers swept the top-three spots in the 400 meters. Jimmy Martinez won with a time of 50.06, followed by Joshua Howard (50.89) and William Robertson (51.02).
Also on the track Theodore Henderson won the 3,000-meter steeplechase (9:23.70), and the 4×400-meter relay team of Coleman, Robertson, Howard and Martinez won in 3:23.35.
Panther men claimed three field events titles. Minhaj Rahman won the hammer throw with a toss of 188 feet-1 inch, while Nathaniel Klein finished third (153-10). John Natalone won the pole vault (15-11), and Zack Sieb claimed the discus (139-10) with Rahman in third (134-8).
In other strong efforts, Jonathan Perlman took second in the 1,500 meters (3:58.01), while Nathan Hill was third (3:58.48); Hill took second in the 800 meters (1:53.40); Klein finished second in the shot put (47-1).
Third-places showings were posted by the 4×800-meter relay team of Hill, Liam Hoagland, Sawyer Tadano and James McGaugh in 8:03.37, Max Memeger in the long jump (22-6.25) and Alfred Hurley in the javelin (168-3).
FORMER MOUNT ABE standout Lydia Pitts, now a freshman at Bowdoin, bounds through a triple jump at the NESCAC Track and Field Championship Meet at Middlebury College this past Saturday. Pitts earned second place by going more than 36 and a half feet.
Photo courtesy of Kirsten Pitts
The Panther women won four events. Katherine MacCary won the 10,000 meters (35:58.49) while Rory Kelly took the 5,000 (17:47.74), with teammate Abigail Nadler in second (17:52.10).
The 4×800-meter quartet of Katie Glew, Meg Wilson, Anna Willig and Nicole Johnson posted a winning mark of 9:34.62, and Rebecca Gorman won the javelin (135-3).
The 4×400-meter relay team of Lucy Lang, Ava O’Mara, Julia Munz and Gretchen McGrath finished second in 4:00.51, while Kreager Taber was the runner-up in the pole vault in 11’-7.75”
Third-place finishes came from Nadler in the 1,500 meters (4:39.57) and Cassie Kearney in the 800 meters (2:15.83).
PANTHER SENIOR MILES Meijer shoots out of the water barrier while junior teammate Theo Henderson prepares to take the plunge during the 3,000 meters steeplechase at Saturday’s NESCAC championship meet in Middlebury. Henderson won the race and the Panther men won the team title.
Middlebury Campus photo/Benjy Renton
Former Mount Abraham Union High School standout Lydia Pitts performed well for the Bowdoin women: The freshman took second in the triple jump (36-8.25) and fifth in the 100 hurdles (15.45). For her accomplishments, Pitts was named Most Outstanding Rookie Performer among women at the meet.
Panther senior Nicholas Hendrix, a native of the United Kingdom, won the Sabasteanski Award as the Most Outstanding Male Performer.
The Middlebury men’s coaching staff, led by head coach Martin Beatty, was selected as the Men’s Track & Field Coaching Staff of the Year for the second year in a row.