COMPLETE RESULTS
Middlebury, VT––The men's track and field team continue their season with a series of strong performances today at the Middlebury Invitational. With several event groups making concerted efforts to qualify for Division III New Englands today, athletes across specialties turned out fantastic performances. Middlebury won the meet with 163.5 points. RPI was 2nd, with 159 points, while Williams finished 3rd with 139.
The meet actually began yesterday evening, as a trio of Ephs, co-captain Tobias Muellers '18, Kyrien Edwards '18, and Tom Riley '18 contested the heptathlon, a two-day affair. After completing the 60-meter dash, the long jump, the shot put, the high jump, the 60 meter hurdles, and the pole vault, the last event remaining was the 1000 meter run. Riley, who had already competed so well in the preceding six events that he had already qualified for Division III New Englands, sacrificed his own performance in the final event to help pace Muellers to a school record by running a 2:47 1000, an emphatic punctuation to Muellers' heptathlon. Muellers scored 4860 points, placing him 3rd on the national list, and shattering the previous record of 4698 set by Reid Pryzant in 2015. Riley finished 2nd with 4267 points. Edwards finished 5th, with 3082 points.
The energy from the heptathlon carried over to the track. In the distance medley relay, two spirited teams of Eph underclassmen competed against each other and two other teams. The team comprising Peter Kirgis '20, Eliot Fong '19, Nick Gannon '20, and Sam Wischnewsky '20 prevailed, winning in a time of 10:38.69, and likely qualifying for Division III New Englands.
Jeremy Thaller '19 continued the momentum in the 60-meter dash, running away from the field in both the preliminary heat and the final, running a personal best of 7.02 both times. He qualified for All New Englands with his performance.
Following Thaller, several milers raced well, too. Co-captain David Folsom '17 won his heat of the mile in 4:24.49, qualifying for Division III New Englands. And in the top heat, first-year Tristan Colaizzi '20 made his debut, running a smooth 4:22.37 to also qualify for Division III New Englands.
The Ephs also performed well in the mid-distance events. In the 500, Fong and first-year Robert Delfield '20––also making his debut––finished 2nd and 3rd, running respective times of 1:08.65 and 1:09.22. And in the 800, seniors Lucas Elek '17 and co-captain Steve Yannacone '17 ran measured races, finishing in respective times of 1:58.37 and 1:56.81, finishing in 5th and 3rd. Both qualified for Division III New Englands.
But Williams saved their best performances for last. In the 5000, co-captain Peter Hale continued his streak of front-run victories, running a time of 14:34.27, a personal best, and currently the fastest time in the nation this year. Behind him, Noah Williams '17 and Austin Anderson '19 worked well together for most of the race. Anderson would eventually finish 2nd in 14:58.85, a new personal best, while Williams would run 15:08.58. Both qualified for All New Englands with their performances. Behind Williams, Zeke Cohen '19 and Mitchell Morris '19 also worked in conjunction with each other, finishing nearly side-by-side. Cohen finished 4th in 15:20.14, while Morris ran 15:20.21 for 5th. Both were well under the Division III New England qualifying standard of 15:30.
And in the shot put, the Ephs also excelled. Magnus Herweyer '20 tied his personal best of 15.23m, winning the meet. Co-captain Chris Lyons finished 2nd in an indoor personal best of 14.22m, while Liam Pembroke '18 finished 6th with a throw of 13.05m.
Head coach Ethan Barron was impressed with the team's performance as a whole, but saved special praise for three co-captains, Muellers, Folsom, and Hale. "Tobias, Peter, and David showed a lot of what this team is about," Barron said. "At times all three had to motivate and push themselves in isolation at today's meet. That is absolutely critical in this sport. If you allow yourself to become dependent on the race or your competitors for energy and pace then you've forfeited control of your own performance." In terms of the team's performance as a whole, Barron was also pleased, stating that "we're all definitely getting to where we're able to control our own variables and simply use the competition for an added boost. Each weekend has built on the previous one, it's on us to keep that trend moving."
The Ephs will return to competition next Saturday at the Dartmouth Invitational, hosted by Dartmouth College.
