Track & Field • Cross Country

Track Fifth at NESCACs
May 6, 2005

By Benjamin Peisch
Staff Writer

The Bowdoin Men's Track Team competed Saturday at the NESCAC Championships at Colby College. When the points were tallied, the men were in fifth place overall. Although the men would have liked to have placed higher as a team, there were many great individual performances to be proud of.

Senior captain Jon Todd won the pole vault with a vault of 14 feet, 9 inches. Todd was a half-foot ahead of his closest competitor and had several impressive attempts at 15 feet, 3 inches.

Todd has blossomed both as an athlete and a team leader during his career at Bowdoin.

He has become a reliable top-three scorer at every meet he enters, and his example has been an inspiration to his team on the track, off the track, and in the team showers.

Sophomore Joseph Adu was the "feel good" story for the Polar Bears. Adu has struggled with hamstring injuries all winter and spring, interrupting his training and racing schedules.

On Saturday, however, Adu ran like a man possessed in the 110 meter high hurdles. He set a personal record of 15.21 seconds to win his preliminary round. In the finals, he took the lead 70 meters into the race and did not look back, winning with a time of 15.37.

The men also had a host of second-place finishes. Senior captain Greydon Foil placed second in the 400 meter hurdle event, setting a personal record of 54.09 seconds.

Foil was stoic as always, but his amazingly successful career has been admired and appreciated by his loyal teammates.

Foil celebrated his finish by sending his robot minions to set flame to the Williams tent.

Senior Patrick Hughes was also a great story for the Bears. Hughes has also been hampered by injuries, ranging from sprained ankles and stress fractures, as well as a bad case of the Baboon Gout he incurred while studying abroad in Kenya.

Hughes put that all behind him on Saturday, going ballistic over the final two laps to place second in the 3000 meter steeplechase. Hughes' time was just seconds away from qualifying for nationals.

Junior Jared Prichard continued his rapid improvement in the javelin event. His toss of 175 feet was another personal record. His accuracy is improving, as well. By next year, he promises to be able to spear a Bates kid at a distance of 180 feet.

Other strong performances came from Owen McKenna '07 (third in the 1500), the men's 4x400 team of Steven Bartus '08, Foil, Brendan Egan '08, and Eric Lee '08 (fifth overall), and the men's distance medley relay of Hughes, McKenna, Ben Martens '06, and John Mark Ikeda '06 (fourth overall).

Bartus also won the 400 meter faceplant, but unfortunately it was not a scored event this year.

The men will look to place back in the top three at NESCACs next year.

With a group of fast-improving underclassmen and expert leadership from Coach Peter Slovenski, the men will be back on top again soon.

The Polar Bears will travel to Springfield College this weekend to compete in the New England Championships.

Bowdoin students are enouraged to abandon the incredible amount of work that they have to do and get to Springfield in order to cheer on the men's track team's quest for glory.

If you can't make it, cheer from your dorm rooms.

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Women’s Track Seventh at Conference Meet
May 6, 2005

By Laura Onderko
Staff Writer

The Bowdoin Women's Track Team began its championship season this weekend with the NESCAC meet held at Colby College. Coming in seventh overall, the women faced tough competition and a variety of weather conditions, ranging from warm sun in the morning to rain and wind in the afternoon.

The team's only first place came from sophomore Erin Prifogle in the high jump, tying her personal best, she cleared 5' 3".

Coach Slovenski attributed Prifogle's performance of missing the team bus, theorizing that, "Erin was mad at herself for missing the bus, and I think she directed that anger into the high jump. It worked out very well because that's the best she has ever jumped."

Fellow high jumper, first year Jessie DePalo followed Prifogle's example, also missing the bus to the meet.

Using the resourcefulness that is inherent in all Bowdoin track athletes was able to find a ride to the meet, she arrived just before high jump began and cleared 4' 9" to take tenth place overall.

The next highest placing individual athlete for the Polar Bears was Emily Sheffield '06, who took almost three seconds off her season best, sprinting to a time of 2:17.81 for third in the 800m. Holly Feeser '08 also competed in the 800m, finishing 12th in 2:24.27. Feeser and Sheffield joined Amy Ahearn '08 and Courtney Eustace '08 to make up the 4x800m relay team, which was the highest placing relay for the women. Despite wind and rain, Sheffield moved the team from fourth to second place with her anchor leg, giving the women a finish of 9:35.47.

Coach Slovenski commented on Sheffield's performance saying, "Emily had an outstanding day for Bowdoin, for her to run a 2:17 in the open 800, and then come back with another 2:17 as the anchor of the relay was fantastic."

Senior Ellen Beth also contributed to the team score with her fourth place finish in the 5k to finish in 18:02.88.

Louise Duffus '07 received another fourth place for her performance in the hammer throw of 44.6m. Duffus was the only woman from Bowdoin to place in three individual events, placing fifth in the discus with a personal best of 39.17m, and sixth in the shot put.

Joining Duffus in the shot put, Emily Hackert '06 continued her trend of personal bests with a throw of 9.76m for 13th place.

To round out the throwing events, Corey Bergen '08 finished up her first track season ever, with a throw of 20.15m in the javelin to place fifth.

Continuing to vault consistently throughout the season, the first year and sophomore duo, Alyssa Chen and Becca Perry cleared 9'6" and 9'0" respectively to finish fourth and ninth overall.

The women had two other ninth place finishes in the 100m and 400m dashes. Ruth Jacobson '06 sprinted to a finish of 13.41 seconds in the 100m.

Gina Campelia '07 ran a smart race in the 400m, resisting the urge to go out too fast in the first 200m as many of her competitors did, she had a strong finish, passing competitors as they faded in the last 100m to get a time of 62.31 seconds.

Katie Landry '05 also placed ninth in her event, the challenging 3k steeplechase, hurdling over barriers and jumping through water pits to finish in 12:18.16.

With the top eight places scoring, Erin Prifogle was once again able to contribute to the team's score with a sixth place finish in the 100m hurdles finish. The 4x100m relay team, composed of Jacobson, DePalo, Feeser, and Campelia was able to grab a point for the Polar Bears with their eighth place finish, sprinting to a time of 53.28 seconds.

The 4x400m of Elizabeth Onderko, Natasha Camilo, Jacobson and Campelia also finished eighth. Camilo and Onderko also ran the 400m hurdles where they placed thirteenth and fifteenth.

In the 1500m, Courtney Eustace, part of the second place 4x800m relay team, placed eleventh with 5:00.84 and fellow first-year, Laura Onderko ran a personal best of 5:08.01.

In the first event of the day, another personal best was achieved as Jamie Knight '07 placed twelfth in the 10k with 40:57.52.

The women who qualified for New England Division IIIs will travel to Bates on Saturday.

Well prepared by Coach Slovenski, they look to have even greater success and welcome the challenge of tougher competition.

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Second at states for men
April 29, 2005

By Benjamin Peisch
Staff Writer

The Maine State Meet is the second oldest track meet in the United States. With respect and admiration for their brothers that competed before them, the Bowdoin Men's Track Team traveled to Lewiston on Saturday for the 2005 meet. The weather was perfect. Dark skies and cold rain turned grass into mud and our men into gladiators. After a day of great competition, our boys stood proudly in second place.

Sophomore Owen McKenna was named Best Athlete of the Meet for his outstanding performances on the track. In the 1,500 meters, McKenna used a deadly kick over the final lap to destroy his opponents. McKenna's raw masculinity enabled him to overpower his opponent, Joel Anderson of Bates, allowing him to pull away for a two second victory in 3 minutes, 57 seconds.

Shortly afterwards, McKenna lined up for the 800 meters. The fact that he was chewing on broken glass was very intimidating. Despite his toughness, McKenna found himself boxed in. In the final straightaway, McKenna weaved between struggling opponents and lunged at the line to win the race in a time of 1 minute, 59 seconds.

The only athlete who had two victories on the day was senior captain Greydon Foil. Foil won the 400-meter hurdles in dramatic fashion. He nipped Bates' Adam Macbeth by a tenth of a second, surging when his opponent began to falter. In the process, Foil broke his own Maine State Meet record in the event with a run of 54 seconds. Foil met his success with his trademark stoicism, while Macbeth chose to dive into his trademark post-race temper tantrum.

Foil then anchored the state-champion 4x400 meter relay team just a 30 minutes later. The team composed of Eric Lee '08, Bredan Egan '08, Steven Bartus '08, and Foil beat Bates by four seconds with a time of 3 minutes, 27 seconds.

Foil was one of many seniors who stepped up on Saturday. Captain Jon Todd helped Foil lead the charge, pole vaulting 14'6" to easily win his event.

The running events were also lucrative for the seniors. In the 10,000 meters, the men scored big. Senior Ben Peisch stalked the leader of the race, Bates' Matt "Shelly" Daly, for 24 laps before outsprinting him to the finish line.

The 10,000 meters was just the beginning. In the 3,000 meter steeplechase, senior Patrick Hughes employed a similar tactic as his former roommate Peisch. He lagged behind the leaders, waiting for the right moment to strike.

When the time was right, Hughes' attack was brutally efficient. It was so gruesome, many spectators threw up all over the place. Hughes was undeterred and blazed to victory in 9 minutes, 30 seconds.

The men also had a great performance from junior Jared Prichard, who had the most dominating win of the day, winning the javelin by 40 feet.

In the team standings, Bates win with 262 points. Bowdoin was second with 175 points, well ahead of Colby with 92 points and USM with 73 points. Although the men won eight events, Bates' superior depth in the sprints and the field events took them to victory.

However, the Polar Bears had an outstanding day on the track and in the field. Nearly every close finish went to the Polar Bears. Additionally, they had the Most Outstanding Runner in McKenna and a new State Meet record holder in Foil.

The men will build on their success at the State Meet. They will compete at the NESCAC championships at Colby College on Saturday.

It marks the only time in history where the real party this weekend is at Colby instead of Bowdoin, so everyone should skip Ivies weekend and watch the sexiest men on campus wrestle half-naked with their most hated conference rivals.

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Women’s track finishes third at Bowdoin’s Aloha Relays
April 29, 2005

By Laura Onderko
Staff Writer

Enduring rain storms and power outages this past Saturday, the Bowdoin Women's Track Team demonstrated their determination and spirit by finishing third overall in their only home meet of the season, the Aloha Relays.

The meet was close with only 14 and a half points separating the top three spots, with University of Southern Maine taking first and Colby second, followed by Bowdoin, Bates and Mount Holyoke.

Bowdoin's highest individual scorer of the meet was once again sophomore Louise Duffus, who practically dominated the throwing events, taking second in the shot put, discus, and the hammer, where she also qualified provisionally for nationals. First-year Krystal Barker also competed in the discus taking twelfth, while in the javelin fellow first year Corey Bergen also took twelfth, and Ellie Benard '06 threw for a seventeenth place finish.

Other impressive performances came in the 10k and the 800m. In the first event of the day, the 10k, the senior-sophomore combo of Ellen Beth and Kristen Brownell captured first and second with personal bests. Beth ran for a time of 37:37.7, which qualified her provisionally for nationals, while Brownell finished in 40:18.89.

The highest scoring event of the day was the 800m in which Bowdoin runners took first, second and fourth. Sprinting though the puddles that submerged the track, Emily Sheffield '06 took first in 2:23.8. Holly Feeser '08 was only 1.1 seconds behind in second, and Amy Ahearn '08 finished fourth in 2:27.3.

Coach Slovenski commented on both races saying, "We had some inspiring performances in tough conditions. Emily Sheffield and Holly Feeser splashed their way to a terrific 1-2 finish in the 800, and Ellen Beth and Kristen Brownell also gave us a great lift with their 1-2 finish in the 10,000 meter run."

In two of the longest races of the day, the 3k and the 5k, two other athletes showed the courage that characterizes Bowdoin athletes, with Katie Landry '05 and Jamie Knight '07 doubling both races. Landry finished third in the 3k with Knight close behind in fourth, in the 5k they reversed their finishing order, with Knight in fifth and Landry in sixth.

Another breakout race came in the 1500m, where first-year Courtney Eustace took third in a competitive field; taking eight seconds off from her previous race time, she finished in 4:52.

Coach Slovenski was impressed by her finish. "Courtney Eustace had a fantastic race for third in the 1500m. She raised her level of running at a time when we really needed her to come through."

Also competing in the 1500 were fellow first-years, Laura Onderko and Sarah Podmaniczky. Onderko finished eleventh overall, while Podmaniczky took five seconds off her personal best to run a 5:20.6 for sixteenth.

In the sprinting events, the women also placed high, giving the team valuable points. In the 100m, both Ruth Jacobson '06 and Barker '08 made it to the finals where they finished in third and eighth places with times of 13.6 seconds and 14.5 seconds respectively.

Jacobson also represented Bowdoin in the 200m where she nabbed a point for the Polar Bears by finishing in sixth with a time of 28.9 seconds.

Gina Campelia '07 sprinted to a second place finish in her specialty, the 400m, in 62.8 seconds. Fellow sophomore Erin Prifogle captured Bowdoin's third individual first place finish in the 100m hurdles, and also scored in the high jump, clearing 5 feet for fourth place. Jessie DePalo '08 also competed in the high jump, tying for sixth.

In the longer hurdle race of the day, the 400m hurdles, Elizabeth Onderko '08 overcame the wet conditions to run a personal best of 72.6 for third, while Natasha Camilo '06 took fourth.

Camilo competed in the long jump, where she finished third. Pole vault, held Friday afternoon to avoid the inclement weather, saw another fourth place finish as Becca Perry '07 cleared nine feet.

In the relays, Bowdoin again found success as the 4x100m team of Feeser, DePalo, Jacobson, and Campelia finished second.

Both the 4x400m and the 4x800m took first place with DePalo and Campelia, Elizabeth Onderko, and Sheffield making up the 4x400m, while Feeser, Ahearn, Podmaniczky, and Laura Onderko combined to run the 4x800m.

The women's next meet is tomorrow at Colby where they will begin their champion meet season with the NESCAC championships.

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Individual feats mark Open New England meet
March 4, 2005

By Benjamin Peisch
Staff Writer

The best of the Bowdoin tracksters competed in the Open New England Championships held at Boston University this past weekend. The competition came from all over the region, and in all shapes and sizes. It is the only meet of the indoor season where men and women compete against opponents from all divisions, and as a result, it is the most competitive meet of the season until the National Championships.

Both the men and the women competed extremely well. Despite only bringing a handful of athletes to the meet, the men placed 20th overall and the women 21st.

Senior captain Jon Todd was the most successful of the men. Todd placed fourth overall in the pole vault, rising to the challenge of the increased competition by matching his personal indoor best .

Todd propelled himself 15 feet above the ground. He continued to vault well—he had three achingly close attempts at 15 feet, 3 inches, the provisional qualifying height for Nationals. However, his fourth place finish in New England was a very satisfying effort for him and made his teammates extremely proud.

Louise Duffus '07 also placed fourth overall in the weight throw with a heave of 51 feet, 11 inches. Like Todd, the great amount of talent at the meet pushed her to throw her absolute best, and fourth place among all comers is quite the accomplishment for the precocious sophomore. Not far behind Duffus was senior Laura Perovich. Perovich continued her excellent season with a fifth-place finish in the same event, throwing 51 feet, 6 inches.

Junior Andrew Combs also had an excellent meet over the weekend. After qualifying for the final to the mile run on Friday, Combs took the track on Saturday afternoon to run in the finals. The race was ruthless the entire way around, and Combs was forced to fight like a madman.

The pace shifted constantly, pushing our hero into a sprint at random times during the race. By the time the pack thinned out, Combs made a mad dash for the finish line and placed sixth overall with a time of four minutes, 11 seconds. The time was just two seconds slower than Combs' personal best.

These four outstanding individual performances gave both the men and the women plenty to be proud of. The men and women's teams will look to continue their success at the ECAC Championships, to be held on Saturday in the middle of nowhere, St. Lawrence. After ECACs, several members of each team will make the trip to the Midwest for the National Championships.

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Track Seventh at NE’s
February 25, 2005

By Benjamin Peisch
Staff Writer

The men's track team placed seventh at the New England Championships at Tufts University on Saturday, missing sixth place by only a half a point. Although the men had some setbacks during competition, their captains once again came through for the men.

Senior captain Jon Todd was the star performer of the meet for the team. His vault of 15 feet was not only his best indoor vault of his career, but it was good for second place in one of the most competitive events of the meet. Senior captain Greydon Foil also nabbed a second-place finish in the 600 meter run. Foil had a remarkable run at the title over the final lap, and would have won if the race had been 605 meters.

The third captain for the Polar Bears, junior Andrew Combs, also had the kind of strong performance that the team has come to expect from its captains. In the 1500 meter run, Combs was trapped in a large pack of runners for most of the race before breaking out over the final laps. He made a strong push and placed third.

Combs's training partner and good friend Owen McKenna also picked up a third-place finish in the 1000 meter run. McKenna ran into similar crowding problems at the beginning of the race, and was forced to start his sprint earlier than usual in order to stay with the leaders. Two hundredths of a second separated first from third.

The men also had a great run in the 4x800 meter relay. Foil had the first leg for the men, and put them in striking position before handing off to first-year Steven Bartus. Bartus pulled into the lead pack and by the time he handed off to McKenna, it was a four team race. McKenna had an amazing run, splitting 1:55 for the half mile. Combs was the last to take the baton, and although he blew away competitors from Wesleyan and Coast Guard, he was edged at the tape by Trinity. Bowdoin's time of 7:55 was good for second place.

The men were happy with their team's seventh-place finish. They lost a huge number of quality seniors from last year's sixth-place team, so every member needed to step up their performances for the biggest meet of the season. The men are thrilled about spring track season, and feel that they can improve on their placing at Outdoor New England's.

However, the indoor season is not over for all of the men. Combs and McKenna will attempt to qualify for nationals in the mile this weekend, as will Jon Todd in the pole vault. Todd is also chasing the school record in his event.

Additionally, the Bowdoin distance medley relay of Foil, Bartus, McKenna, and Combs has already qualified automatically for nationals.

These brave souls will continue to train and compete for the men, and will represent Bowdoin well at the Big Dance when the time comes.

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Women Tracksters Finish Seventh at New England D-III’s
February 25, 2005

By Laura Onderko
Staff Writer

The Women's Indoor Track Team competed against 29 other colleges in the New England Division III meet at Smith College in the first meet of the championship season. Finishing seventh overall, the women realized Coach Peter Slovenski's goal of placing in the top seven as a team.

The highest scoring event for the women once again was in the weight throw. Taking second and third place out of 20 competitors, sophomore Louise Duffus and senior Laura Perovich earned fourteen of Bowdoin's thirty-four points. Duffus took second with a throw of 51', and Perovich was right behind her with a throw of 49'4.5".

Both women also competed in the shot put, where Perovich finished in eighth with 38'8.25", and Duffus threw 37'11.5" to take ninth. Perovich's performance in the throws made her the highest scoring individual competitor for Bowdoin.

Slovenski noted the success of the throwers.

"The throwing events have been the most consistent and powerful for our team this year. Louise and Laura are terrific competitors in the championship meets," he said.

The next highest scoring event for Bowdoin was the distance medley relay, where the young team of Amy Ahearn '08, Gina Campelia '07, Holly Feeser '08, and Courtney Eustace '08 came out of the slow heat to take third overall, with 12:50.15.

Ahearn ran the lead off leg, running the 1200m for the first time in her track career. She handed off to Campelia, who moved the team into second in her 400m leg. Next Feeser, taking on this event as her third of the meet to substitute for a sick teammate, ran through illness herself, maintaining the team's second place in the 800m. For the final leg, Feeser handed off to fellow first year Eustace who finished the relay, running the 1600m leg.

Bowdoin's relays continued to do well with the 4x400m team finishing fourth with 4:09.49. Emily Hackert '06 started the team off, running an impressive leg to hand off in first, giving the baton to fellow junior Emily Sheffield, who passed off to Campelia, with Feeser anchoring the team.

Senior Ellen Beth also scored points for the Polar Bears, taking fifth in the 3k with a season-best time of 10:20.32. Running a smart race, Beth again used negative splits by starting out conservatively, and then passing competitors in the last half of the race. Fellow senior Katie Walker also earned points with a seventh place finish in the 800m. Running through injury, Walker faced a fast field, and raced bravely for a time of 2:22.32. First year Alyssa Chen took seventh place, clearing 9'6" in the pole vault and coming within one inch of her personal best.

Also competing in the meet was junior Ruth Jacobson, who showed her speed in the 55m dash, and facing a very competitive field, finished fourteenth with 7.79 seconds. In the 600m, Ivy Blackmore '07 finished ninth in 1:42.11, a personal best, while Sheffield won her heat, taking eleventh overall in 1:42.37. Running relays and personal events, Gessy LePage '06 and Feeser competed in the 1000m. LePage ran a personal best of 3:11.69 to take ninth overall and Feeser finished eleventh with 3:13.61.

In the longest event of the day, the 5k, sophomore Kristen Brownell ran a personal best, breaking nineteen minutes, finishing in 18:54.21 and 19th place. In the 55m hurdles, one of the shortest events of the day, Erin Prifogle '07 and Hackert finished in twelfth and fourteenth in 9.33 seconds and 9.39 seconds, respectively.

In Bowdoin's third relay of the day, the 4x800m Eustace once again teamed up with Ahearn, as well as LePage and Blackmore to take ninth in a season best time of 9:56.99.

Tomorrow the Bowdoin women's indoor track team will compete in the Open New England Championships, held at Boston University, where the women will face not only Division III teams, but Division I and Division II teams as well.

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Tracksters Collect Weekend Honors
DMR Qualifies for NCAA, Perovich Breaks Record

The Bowdoin College men's distance relay squad earned an automatic berth to the NCAA Indoor Track Championship this weekend, while Laura Perovich broke a school record in the weight throw as the season enters the homestretch.

The men's distance relay team of Owen McKenna, Steve Bartus, Greydon Foil and Andrew Combs competed at Boston University's St. Valentine Invitational this weekend. The Polar Bears posted a time of 10:00.58, reaching the automatic qualification standard for the NCAA Track Championships. The team placed fourth overall in the race, and earned a trip to Illinois Wesleyan in March for Nationals.

Meanwhile, Laura Perovich shattered a Bowdoin school record in the weight throw competition this weekend at Coast Guard. With a toss of 53 feet, 5.75 inches, Perovich broke the previous mark of 51' 1.74" held by Stacy Jones '00

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Men Place Second at Maine State Meet
Co-captain Greydon Foil ’05 sets Maine State Meet record in 600 meter
February 11, 2005

By Benjamin Peisch
Staff Writer

The men's track team was host to the Maine State Meet Saturday night. Bates, Colby, and USM all made the trek to Brunswick. Although the men competed hard, the heavily favored Bates Bobcats were able to repeat as State Champions.

Once again the men were led by their fearless captains. Junior Andrew Combs placed a close second in the mile before angrily destroying the field in the 1000 meter run. Senior Jon Todd won his specialty event, the pole vault, clearing a height of 14 feet, 5 inches.

It was nearly impossible to touch senior Greydon Foil, however. Foil singed the track en route to victory in the 600 meter run. His winning time of 1:21.92 broke the long-standing meet record previously held by Bowdoin standout Chris Downe '00. Later in the meet, Foil anchored the winning 4x400 meter relay team. Sophomore James Knuckles and first-years Brendan Egan and Steven Bartus put Foil in a comfortable lead position and he cruised to victory.

The other individual winner of the day was sophomore Joseph Adu in the 55 meter hurdles. Adu surged over the final two hurdles to wrest victory from Adam MacBeth of Bates by .01 seconds.

The rest of the men scraped for points in any way they could get them, but found themselves overwhelmed by Bates. Although many Bears set personal records in their events, Bates also had a spectacular day, and the final score read Bates 190, Bowdoin 128.

Despite losing the meet, the men were proud about the manner in which they competed. Like the Spartans of lore, they did not flinch in the face of adversity and they fought like warriors until the final runner had crossed the tape.

The men will be traveling to the United States Coast Guard Academy on Saturday for a dual meet with the host team and Connecticut College. They will be preparing for the New England Championships on February 18, where due to the amount of standout individuals on the team, the men are excited to perform their best.

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By Laura Onderko
Staff Writer

The Bowdoin women's track team traveled to the University of Southern Maine to compete in the annual Maine State Meet, where NESCAC rivals Bates and Colby joined USM to compete against Bowdoin. While the women were able to defeat Colby after losing to the White Mules earlier in the season, USM proved too strong for the Bears, winning the meet with 174 points to Bowdoin's 155 . Colby finished third with 144 points and Bates fourth with 99.

Although the women were unable to defend their title, many had personal bests and Bowdoin had two state champions. Greatly aiding the team were Bowdoin's seniors, who scored a total of 44 points between the four of them.

"Our seniors provided terrific leadership. Katie Walker, Ellen Beth, Molly Juhlin, and Laura Perovich have made wonderful contributions to the indoor team during their careers, and they came through again for us in the state championship," Coach Peter Slovenski said.

Senior co-captain Walker was the only individual winner for Bowdoin, as, for the second week in a row, Walker demonstrated her dominance in the 800m. Letting others set the pace, she waited until the final turn, pulling away from her competition easily sprinting into a first-place finish. First year Amy Ahearn also competed in the 800m and captured fourth, just seven hundredths of a second behind the third place finisher.

In the last event of the day, the 4x800m team with first years Aisha Woodward, Laura Onderko, Ahearn, and sophomore Gessy LePage claimed the other first place for the Bears. Woodward led off the relay and handed off to LePage, who easily caught and surpassed the Colby leg. Onderko held the lead, which Ahearn widened to win the relay easily in 10:07.7.

The highest scoring individual of the meet was again Perovich, showing great versatility as she took third in both the pole vault and the shot put and second in the weight throw. In pole vault Perovich achieved a new personal best, clearing 9"7", while Alyssa Chen '08 also got a personal best, vaulting 9'1" to finish just behind Perovich in fourth. Also competing in the pole vault were sophomores Becca Perry, who cleared 8"7" for sixth, and Mary-Kate Wheeler, who also achieved a personal best, clearing 7'7" for ninth place.

In the throwing events, all three Bowdoin competitors achieved new personal records. Louise Duffus '07 and Perovich finished just behind Bates' Kelly Godsey, one of the best throwers in the nation in weight throw, with Duffus taking second with a throw of 41'1" and Perovich finishing in third, 39'3.75". The two upperclassmen switched places in the weight throw with Perovich second, throwing 50'6.5" and Duffus third, 50'2.5".

The highest scoring event of the night for the Bowdoin women was the 600m run, with junior Emily Sheffield finishing in second just behind the leader. Sophomore Ivy Blackmore sprinted in just behind Sheffield in 1:44.83 to take third, while Juhlin won her heat, and beat two competitors from the fast heat to take fifth with 1:46.47.

Another high scoring event was the 55m hurdles, where Erin Prifogle '07 and Emily Hackert '06 finished just one hundredth of a second apart taking second and third with 9.28 and 9.29 seconds, respectively. First year Elizabeth Onderko, coming back from injury, also competed in the hurdles, taking tenth overall. Prifogle competed in the high jump as well, clearing five feet and taking another second place, making her the second highest individual scorer for Bowdoin. Joining Prifogle in high jump was Jessie DePalo '08, who cleared 4'8" to finish eighth.

In long jump, junior co-captain Natahsa Camilo represented Bowdoin with a sixth place finish, jumping 14'11.5". Both Chen and Perry went from the pole vault to the triple jump, where Perry competed in the event for the first time since high school in order to help the team. Chen finished seventh with 31'7" and Perry placed thirteenth.

In the 1500m both Beth and Courtney Eustace '08 qualified for Division III's by finishing three hundredths of a second apart to take fourth and fifth with times of 4:54.93 and 4:54.96, respectively. Beth also competed in the 3k, and again qualified for Division III's as well as ECACs, finishing second with 10:48.52, while sophomore Jamie Knight got a personal best, claiming fifth place with 11:10.84 after passing three competitors in the last 400m of the race. In the longest race of the day, the 5k, sophomore Kristen Brownell also ran a personal best, qualifying for Division III's and taking third place with a time of 19:00.06.

More personal bests were achieved in the 1000m as first year Holly Feeser went up against Colby's Jess Minty, running her fastest time to date, 3:05.65, taking second. Laura Onderko also ran a personal best of 3:11.13 to place sixth. Closely following Onderko, Eustace took seventh in 3:12.18, while LePage finished eighth and Woodward took twelfth.

Competing in her second event of the day, Hackert sprinted to a time of 27.96 in the 200m earning her sixth place, while teammate, Gina Campelia '07 finished 14th in 29.98 seconds. Campelia also competed in the 400m, another close race, where she finished in third with a time of 62.57 just .57 seconds behind the second place finisher. Elizabeth Onderko took eighth place in 67.55 seconds.

In the fastest race of the day, the 55m, both Bowdoin runners, Ruth Jacobson '06 and Kate Halloran '07, made it into the finals where they placed fifth and seventh, with times of 7.83 and 7.93 respectively.

The Bowdoin women will travel to Connecticut to compete against Connecticut College at the Coast Guard Academy starting at 2:00 p.m. in the final meet of the regular season.

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Men’s Indoor Track Team Struggles In Strong Field
February 4, 2005

By Benjamin Peisch
Staff Writer

A number of outstanding individual performances were not enough to carry the men's track team to victory on Saturday. The men lost a hard-fought battle to MIT, Springfield, and Tufts. Previously, the men had been unbeaten.

The loss came at a perfect time, however, with plenty of time to correct the numerous mistakes the team made and also build off of the strong individual performances.

With the State Meet against Colby, Bates, and USM at Farley Field House on Saturday night, the men are eager to bounce back and make a run at the title that has eluded them for the past two years.

Owen McKenna '07 had the strongest effort for the men. Racing with calmness and wisdom that belies both his age and his energetic demeanor, McKenna waited for the perfect moment to strike in the mile run. Using a furious final two laps, McKenna won the race with a time of 4 minutes, 19 seconds.

After a short break, McKenna returned to the track for the 1,000 meter run. Once again, he planned his race perfectly, using his deadly finishing kick to gap the field and pick up his second win of the day in 2 minutes, 33 seconds.

Training partner and team captain Andrew Combs '06 also had a great day for the men. Racing in the 3,000 meters, Combs took the lead from the start and set a blistering pace. After dueling with Tufts star Matt Lacey for several laps, Combs unleashed a finishing kick that was rivaled only by Owen McKenna, pulling away to win in a Field House record of 8 minutes and 30 seconds.

Fellow captain Greydon Foil '05 followed the lead set by his teammates. In his specialty, the 600 meter run, Foil was matched against a worthy adversary of Nate Cleveland from Tufts. Foil took control of the race early on, but was faced with an aggressive move from Cleveland on the final lap.

Thinking quickly, Foil muscled his way into position and dusted the field in the final hundred meters, racing to victory with a time of 1:23.13.

Unfortunately, these three individual champions could not carry the team to victory on Saturday. The men all know that they will need to compete at a much higher level to perform with Bates at the State Meet.

Victory will depend on the men in black improving upon their seedings in their events. Since the meet is between only four teams, the men must do a much better job at scratching for points in the fourth, fifth, and sixth scoring positions. On Saturday, oftentimes the men were achingly close to winning more points, but fell short.

The men will need to be on their savviest behavior at the state meet to ensure that they do not make the same mistakes again. Bates is one of the best teams in New England, and the team will need to be at its best to win.

The men are excited to have the opportunity to host the state meet. They know that they are within striking distance of the title, and each member of the team knows exactly what objectives he needs to accomplish to help carry the team to victory.

The Maine State Meet is one of the oldest track meets in the history of America, and it is always a good show. It will be the best spectator meet of the season, as it is extremely fast-paced.

The meet begins at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, and will conclude no later than 9:00 p.m.

Not only does the Maine State Meet pit Bowdoin against its traditional rivals, but it is also the final home meet of the year, making it the perfect time to come out and see the team. The men in black would be honored to compete in front of a packed house, so come cheer on your hard-working underdogs and help propel them to victory!

After the state meet, the men face off against Connecticut College and the Coast Guard in the final regular season meet of the year.

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Track Can’t Catch Up With Jumbos
February 4, 2005

By Laura Onderko
Staff Writer

This past Saturday the Bowdoin women's indoor track team faced a tough meet against NESCAC rival Tufts, as well as non-conference foes Springfield and Gordon Colleges. While the women fell to the Jumbos, 270 to 173.5, they overcame both Springfield and Gordon to finish second overall.

Winning both the pole vault and the weight throw for the second week in a row, Laura Perovich '05 was Bowdoin's only individual winner. These victories made Perovich the highest individual scorer in the meet.

Joining Perovich in the pole vault were Alyssa Chen '08, who had a personal best, clearing nine feet to come in second, and Becca Perry '07, who took fourth reaching a height of 8'6", making the pole vault the highest scoring event of the meet for Bowdoin.

Weight throw was another high scoring event for the Polar Bears with Perovich throwing 50'4.75" to take first and Louise Duffus '07 second with 49' 5.75". Both threw far enough to qualify provisionally for Nationals for the second week in a row, while first-year Liz Leiwant threw a personal best to come in ninth place.

In the other throwing event of the day, shot put, Perovich and Duffus again dominated, both qualifying for New England DIII's, with throws of 38'6.25" and 38'2.25" respectively to finish second and third.

In the other field events, junior co-captain Natasha Camilo finished sixth, jumping 14'5.25", and Chen finished eighth with a jump of 14'1.75".

In the high jump, Jess DePalo '08 and Erin Prifogle '07 both jumped 4'9.75" to take third and fifth respectively. Prifogle went on to compete in the 55m hurdles, making it to the finals and finishing fourth in 9.35 seconds. Emily Hackert '06 finished second in a time of 9.18 seconds. Both times were fast enough to qualify the two women for New England DIII's.

Hackert and Prifogle also competed in the 200m along with Ruth Jacobson '06 and Gina Campelia '07. Hackert sprinted to a time of 28.02 seconds, fast enough to earn her fourth overall and qualify her for New England DIII's.

Jacobson got a personal best, finishing in seventh just ahead of Campelia, who placed eighth. Prifogle finished thirteenth in 30.43 seconds.

Jacobson also competed in the 200m and 55m dash, an event in which all three Bowdoin runners made it to the finals. Jacobson and Kate Halloran '07 ran times fast enough to qualify them for New England DIII's.

Halloran finished third in 7.79 seconds and Jacobson fourth with 7.81 seconds, while senior Mara Partridge finished eighth in 8.15 seconds.

Campelia also represented Bowdoin in the 400m, taking second and qualifying for New England DIII's in 62.25 seconds.

Also qualifying for New England DIII's were Emily Sheffield '06 and Ivy Blackmore '07—who achieved yet another personal best for the Bears—in the 600m, where they finished fifth and sixth with times of 1:42.94 and 1:44.38, respectively. Also competing in the 600m was senior Molly Juhlin, who finished ninth in 1:48.74.

Senior captain Katie Walker competed in her first meet of the season, coming back from an injury to run a time of 2:20.3 in the 800m and take third and qualify for DIII's, ECACs, and Open New Englands.

"It was a big boost for us to get Katie Walker back in the lineup. Katie is one of our most experienced and talented runners, and she had an excellent race," Coach Slovenski said.

First-year Holly Feeser continued to show her talent, this time in the 800m, finishing right behind Walker in fourth with 2:21.45, qualifying for DIII's and ECACs.

The team also had a strong field in the 1000m, with their top three finishers qualifying for New England DIII's, and making it the second highest scoring event of the day for Bowdoin.

First year Amy Ahearn took second in the race in 3:10.53, with fellow first year Courtney Eustace finishing close behind in third with 3:12.14, Ellen Beth '05 finished fifth with 3:13.81, Gessy LePage '07 came in sixth in 3:14.96, and Aisha Woodward '08 ran to a time of 3:24.54 to finish ninth.

Beth and Eustace pulled a tough double by also competing in the mile, where Beth qualified for New England DIII's, racing intelligently and finishing in 5:23.33, which earned her second place overall, while Eustace finished third in 5:28.57.

In the longest race of the day for the women, the 3k, Kristen Brownell improved upon her previous time to finish in third with 11:03.28, while fellow sophomore, Jamie Knight, got a personal best, taking fifth in 11:25.06.

In the relay events, Bowdoin took third with the team of Camilo, LePage, Ahearn, and Partridge in the 4x200m, and in the 4x400m, Campelia joined Feeser, Sheffield, and Hackert to finish second.

Tonight the Bowdoin women's team will defend their four year title as Maine State Champions in the Maine State Meet. Facing NESCAC rivals Colby and Bates, the meet is set to start at 6:00 p.m. at the University of Southern Maine.

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Track Edges Foes In First Two Meets
January 28, 2005

By Benjamin Peisch
Staff Writer

The men's track team has shot out of the blocks this season, winning its first two meets. On January 15, the men invited Colby, Brandeis, and the University of Southern Maine to Farley Field House and emerged with a narrow victory. Shaking off injury and illness, the men traveled to the Brandeis Invitational on Saturday and, thanks to several clutch performances, the men were able to pull out another close win.

The team has been led by the example of its three superb captains. Senior pole vaulter Jon Todd, senior sprint and mid-distance star Greydon Foil, and junior miler Andrew Combs are all undefeated this season. Additionally, all three are perched near the top of the New England rankings for their events. The captains are the foundation of the team, which is looking to build off of its early success.

Senior captain Jon Todd was especially pleased with the Brandeis Invitational victory.

"Without the help from some of our great point scorers [due to injuries], we knew victory would not come easy at Brandeis. Outstanding performances by Bari Robinson in the triple jump (first place), Pat Lyons in the shot (first), Alex Linhart in the weight (second), and Hal Douglas in the 4X400 (first) along with many other great contributions allowed Bowdoin to take first place at the meet," Todd said.

Foil shares the enthusiasm about this still young season. "I'm really excited about the camaraderie of this team," he says while building a robot assassin for his honors project. "Not only do we have a good handful of experienced and talented upperclassmen, but the freshmen have already brought a lot to our team and have shown a lot of spirit and dedication in their training and racing. Just from our first few weeks of training, I can tell that they are the ones that are going to make the difference in how we do in our upcoming meets."

A typical problem facing track teams in January are sickness and injuries, but the Bowdoin men were prepared to overcome adversity and succeed despite the setbacks. The men have been successful thanks to a versatile lineup.

While Bowdoin teams in the past have had weaknesses in some events, thanks to the leadership from head coach Peter Slovenski, throws coach James St. Pierre, and sprints and jumps coach Lynne Ruddy, the men are strong across the board. Thanks to the coaching and captain leadership, the team is making great strides.

"We have a team of men who train and compete with intelligence and perseverance," Todd said as he hammered out some killer squats at practice. "This will be the key to our success in the upcoming meets."

The Polar Bears will face stiff competition against Tufts and Springfield on Saturday. Each program is annually at the top of New England, and the men will be fortunate to test their skills against the best to better prepare them for the championship meets. The men are confident.

"With our upcoming meet this weekend, the men's team remains undaunted by the trunk wielding members of the family Elephantidae from Tufts and the supposed Robots of MIT," says Combs while shooting clay pigeons after practice. "The men's team has been training well, since the beginning of January and are prepared for success."

The meet will begin at noon at Farley Field House. Spectators are both encouraged and appreciated!

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Women’s Indoor Track Out of the Blocks With Mixed Results
January 28, 2005

By Laura Onderko
Staff Writer

The Bowdoin women's indoor track team returned to campus two weeks early for preseason training and faced Brandeis and Colby in its first two meets of the season. The team ran past Brandeis in dual-meet action, while dropping a home meet to Colby.

The women's team defeated Brandeis convincingly with the help of numerous athletes who won their events for the Polar Bears. Louise Duffus '07 and Laura Perovich '05 teamed up to dominate the weight throw and shot put, taking first and second in both events. Both threw far enough in the weight throw to qualify provisionally for nationals.

Perovich showed her versatility as an athlete by also competing in the pole vault, finishing third overall by clearing 7'11". Also competing in the pole vault were sophomores Rebecca Perry and Mary-Kate Wheeler, who finished fourth and fifth respectively. First-year Alyssa Chen demonstrated maturity beyond her years by taking second in the pole vault, clearing 8'05", and then took first in both the long and triple jump. Junior co-captian Natasha Camilo also competed in the long jump, finishing second, jumping just an inch less than Chen.

In the running events, Bowdoin took first in the mile, 400m, 1000m, 3000m, and 55m hurdles. Proving that the young team has great talent and potential, Courtney Eustace '08 led a strong Bowdoin team in the mile, taking first with a time of 5:26.07, with Gessy LePage '07 second, Laura Onderko '08 third, and Aisha Woodward '08 sixth. Fellow first years Holly Feeser and Amy Ahearn competed in the 1000m, taking first and third respectively.

In the other distance events, sophomore Kristen Brownell's strength in cross-country carried over into the track season where she took first in the 3000m with a 11:04.66 finish, her teammate Laura Onderko finishing third. In the sprints, Gina Campelia '07 won the 400m in 62.11, with Elizabeth Onderko '08 taking fourth. Junior Emily Hackert took first in the 55m hurdles with 9.48 seconds. Hackert also competed in the 200m, taking second by sprinting to a time of 27.98, while Ivy Blackmore '07 finished fourth. The 4x400m team of Gina Campelia, Ivy Blackmore, Holly Feeser, and Emily Hackert also contributed greatly to Bowdoin's victory, capturing first in a time of 4:15.07.

The women also had other second, third and fourth place finishes that provided the team with points valuable in defeating Brandeis. In the 55m dash Ruth Jacobson '06, took second with 7.92 seconds, and in high jump first-year Jess DePalo placed second jumping a height of 4'7". DePalo joined Camilo, Jacobson, and Blackmore to make up the 4x200m relay team which took second.

The women were at home again this past weekend to compete against their rival Colby. While the team suffered a loss to the strong Colby team, many individuals had a successful meet.

Greatly contributing to the team's effort was Perovich, who took first in both the pole vault and the weight throw, while finishing second in the shot put.

Head Coach Peter Slovenski was very proud of Perovich's performance: "In 18 years of coaching I've never seen anyone who could win both the weight throw and the pole vault in the same meet. Laura is an extraordinarily versatile athlete," Slovenski said.

Louise Duffus '07 won the shot put and also came in second in the weight throw, while first-year Elizabeth Leiwant placed sixth. Competing in the pole vault along with Perovich were Perry, who claimed third, Chen, who finished fourth, and Wheeler, who came in fifth. In the other field events, junior co-captain Natasha Camilo won the long jump with a jump of 14'08.5", and DePalo competed in the high jump where she finished third.

In the running events Kate Halloran '07 out-sprinted her competition to take first in the 55m dash with 7.61 seconds, while Jacobson finished fourth. Jacobson also competed in the 200m, with a time of 28.60, placing her third. Representing Bowdoin in the 55m hurdles, Elizabeth Onderko finished fourth.

In the 400m, Bowdoin had another individual winner in Hackert, who won with a time of 64.06 seconds, while Emily Sheffield '06 took third. Running the 600m for the first time this season, Ivy Blackmore '07 ran a smart race, and finished in first with 1:45.36, while Molly Juhlin '05 finished four seconds later in third.

Continuing to prove herself a strong middle distance runner, Ahearn competed in the 800m, and in an exciting race took second in 2:28.68, just inches behind the winner. Fellow first-year Holly Feeser continued her dominance in the 1000m, taking first with a time of 3:06.38.

"Holly Feeser has been extremely impressive in the first two meets. Her efforts in the 1000 meter run and on relays have given the team a big lift," Slovenski said.

Courtney Eustace, another first-year, also competed in the 1000m as well as the mile and finished fourth in both. Joining Eustace in the mile were senior Ellen Beth, who ran an intelligent negative split race to place second in 5:19.67, LePage, who finished fifth, and Woodward who took sixth. In the longest running events of the meet, the 3k and the 5k, Jamie Knight '07 took second in the 3k with 11:27.63, and fellow sophomore Kristen Brownell finished third in the 5k in 19:16.66, while Laura Onderko finished fifth.

In the relays, the Bowdoin women's team of LePage, Beth, Woodward, and Ahearn won the 4x800m in 10:07.68, while Emily Sheffield, Blackmore, Feeser, and Mary Kate Wheeler, who stepped up to fill the fourth spot, combined to win the 4x400m in 4:19.17. The relay team of Maura Partridge, Ahearn, Elizabeth Onderko, and DePalo took second in the 4x200m.

The women look ahead to another tough meet at home this weekend when they will host Tufts and Springfield at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday.

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Combs and Co. Lace Up For Season
December 3, 2004

By Benjamin Peisch
Staff Writer

Star junior cross-country captain Andrew Combs traveled to Eau Claire, Wisconsin to compete in the Divison III NCAA Championships two weeks ago. Combs, after placing ninth in New England to earn his spot on the line, battled his way to a 98th place finish overall. He covered the 8k course in 25 minutes, 54 seconds.

Combs was the only Bowdoin runner to qualify for Nationals, and he certainly did the Polar Bears proud. He finished off an up-and-down season for the men with another strong performance. This fall, Combs established himself as a top cross-country athlete, building upon his reputation as one of the best milers in the country.

Yet Combs still has a lot of running to do since he competes on both the indoor and outdoor track team this year. His best seasons are still ahead of him, which is undoubtedly disturbing to his competitors.

He will have plenty of support for the rest of the year. The cross-country team was joined in Farley Field House in the beginning of November by their track teammates. The team is hitting the track, field, and weight room to prepare for the upcoming season, and so far it looks like the men will have another successful season.

The incomparable Coach Peter Slovenski leads the team, with the assistance of three great captains join him. Combs, senior pole vaulter Jon Todd and senior middle-distance and hurdles star Greydon Foil will serve as team captains. The team respects the accomplishments and character of these three young men, who are excited to lead the self-proclaimed best-looking team in the nation.

The men's team graduated four All-Americans this spring, but the men have a wealth of talent waiting to fill in the void in their absence. The men are looking strong in practice and are excited about the upcoming competition, in which they will be facing stiff competition from around New England. Bates returns a great squad, as do the traditional powers Tufts, Williams, MIT, and Springfield.

The men have a number of strong athletes that have been at the top of New England competition in the past, but they will need others to step up for the Bears to be competitive again this year.

They open their competitive season on January 15, when Brandeis comes to Farley Field House. The men will be chomping at the bit.

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Runners Place Eighth
November 5, 2004

By Laura Onderko
Staff Writer

Under overcast skies, the Bowdoin women's cross-country team returned to Colby, the site of its first meet of the season, to compete against Colby and the ten other NESCAC teams in the conference championships. The women faced a very competitive field as well as a challenging course and finished eighth overall. Middlebury and Williams tied for first, followed by Amherst, Colby, Wesleyan, Tufts, Trinity.

Head Coach Peter Slovenski was pleased with the team's performance. "Finishing in the top eight of our conference is a pretty good accomplishment. There are no weak teams in NESCAC. The top five teams in NESCAC are among the top fifteen in the country," he said.

Leading the Polar Bears to their respectable finish was senior Ellen Beth, who ran an amazing race, finishing the five kilometer course in a time of 18:49 to place ninth, and making the all-NESCAC team, an honor awarded to the top 14 finishers.

Coach Slovenski was impressed with Beth's performance. "Ellen ran with a lot of poise in the first half of the race, and a lot of confidence in the second half. She was in 24th place after two miles, and she passed 15 people in the final mile. What a fantastic finish," he said.

The next Bowdoin woman to sprint to the finish was Audra Caler '05, who finished with a time of 19:54, giving her 47th place. Closely following Caler were Courtney Eustace '08, who ran a 20:03 to snatch 55th, Kristen Brownell '07, who finished just one second behind Eustace, and Laura Onderko '08, taking 63rd in 20:14.

Working together to pace each other throughout the course, the next group of Bowdoin women to reach the finish chute was led by Amy Ahearn '08, grabbing 83rd with a time 20:56, followed by Jamie Knight '07, who finished 96th with 21:15 and 11 seconds later Alex Knapp '07 sprinted into the finish chute in 99th place. Just five places behind Knapp, Sarah Podmaniczky '08 finished in 21:45 just ahead of Aisha Woodward '08, who crossed the line ten seconds later, finishing 108th.

Following the team's trend of running together, Jill Schweitzer '06 and Claire Discenza '05, rounded out the Bowdoin women, finishing less than half a second apart with the same time of 22:08.

Advising the women to run a smart race and remember the difficult hill in mile two, Coach Slovenski gave each group of runners the goal of passing a certain number of competitors after the hill on their way to the finish. The women felt well prepared for the important race. "Coach Slovenski has focused on hill training all season, so I think we were definitely prepared and were able to focus on using the down hills to gain speed and momentum," said Jamie Knight '07.

Facing a tough field of competitors, the relatively young team performed well. "Everyone was really happy that Ellen had such a good race and was able to place ninth in the whole NESCAC league. Many other Bowdoin runners also managed to have good races on a hilly and challenging course, and many improved their times from the last race at Colby by a significant amount," Amy Ahearn '08 said.

Looking ahead, the women are optimistic. "Many women ran good races and we still have the chance to improve on our performances at the regional meet," Beth said.

The top eight Bowdoin women will continue training through the next week, preparing for New England Division III Regionals, which will take place at Twin Brook Recreational Center on November 13th.

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Men Stumble, Tumble To Eighth Place At NESCAC’s
November 5, 2004

By Benjamin Peisch
Staff Writer

The Bowdoin Men's Cross Country Team was dealt a harsh blow on Saturday at the NESCAC Championships. Expecting to place in the top five, the men faded to eighth place. However, they remain focused on the New England Championships and eager to build upon the many bright spots from the race.

Sophomore Owen McKenna was the first Bowdoin finisher, in 18th place, followed by captain Andrew Combs '06 in 20th. Shortly afterwards, the duo of senior captain Ben Peisch and first-year John Hall placed 35th and 39th, respectively. Bowdoin's final scoring position was filled by Nate Krah '08 in 61st place. Senior captain Patrick Hughes was 75th, and junior Ben Martens was 86th.

The team was frustrated by these results.However, there is some cause for optimism in the results sheet. The spread between the third place and ninth place teams was narrow, giving the men a lot of room for improvement when they run against the same teams next Saturday. Additionally, every scoring member of the men's team improved upon the time they ran on the same Colby course earlier in the season, showing that the men are reaching their peak at the perfect time in the season.

The men also got a gutsy performance from first-year John Hall. Hall had been running as seventh or eighth man for the Bears the whole season before breaking out at NESCAC's. He improved upon his time at the Colby course from the beginning of the season by over two minutes, an impressive feat. He had the best race of his young career at the most important moment.

The men will need more than one John Hall type performances next Saturday if they want to be competitive in the region. Last year, the men placed tenth at NESCAC's but had a great day at the much larger New England Championships, placing eighth. The men are capable of another breakout race, but they will have to have the same mentality as they did the year before: no excuses.

If the team has a motto, it is "adversity is the excuse that history never accepts." The men have been dealt some hard blows, but none of that matters in the results sheet. They need to forget their troubles and fearlessly forge ahead. All of the team's training and preparation from the beginning of summer to the end of fall culminates with this race, and all seven men are mentally and physically prepared to race hard at New England's.

The men will be running with a chip on their collective shoulder at the New England Championships. Coach Peter Slovenski has prepared them to have the races of their lives, but each man will have to find the strength within himself to run the way that he knows he can run. The New England Championships will be at Twin Brook in Cumberland, Maine on November 13 at 11 a.m. The competition will be fierce and exciting, and spectators are encouraged to come out and watch a great day of races.

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Men Defeat Women In Annual Battle Of The Sexes
October 29, 2004

By Laura Onderko
Staff Writer

Under cloudy skies the Bowdoin women's cross-country team stood at the starting line, preparing for one of the most challenging races of the year. On Homecoming weekend they were to take on not only Bowdoin alumni, but also the oddly dressed men's team.

Most men sported numbers drawn on bare chests and one appeared to be a farmer in spandex. A few took it to the extreme by wearing speed suits. Yes, spandex unitards. However, the women ignored taunts of "you're going down" from the men's team and instead focused on the more important aspects of the race.

"It was really nice to get to run in a race that was more relaxed and less competitive than usual. It was also fun to get to meet some of the alumni and to be able to run on our home course for the first time this season," said Amy Ahearn '08.

Coach Peter Slovenski analyzed last year's results in order to determine the head start of three-and-a-half minute for the women to counter the basic difference in athletic ability between men and women. At Slovenski's signal, the women surged forward across the athletic fields, past ongoing field hockey and rugby games, and raced into the woods.

Treating this "race" as a good-flow mile workout, the women concentrated on pacing well throughout the 5K course. This was also a chance for the first years on the team to run their home course for the first and only time this season. Before the race, Slovenski placed the women into pace groups and warned the runners to beware of the wildlife. The runners quickly found out this was useful advice, for waiting at mile one were gorillas of the dangerous banana-throwing variety. Dodging bananas, the women's team continued their work-out, progressively picking up the pace. Said Jill Schweitzer '06 "banana attacks from gorillas in the gully did not deter our valiant women."

When women were about a half mile in, the men burst from the starting line, determined to catch the women's team and preserve their pride. The competition between the men and women's team was close, as Andrew Combs '06 caught Audra Caler '05 in the last 300 meters of the race. Next to cross the finish from the men's team was Pat Hughes '05, closely followed by Courtney Eustace '08.

For Eustace the race was a memorable one. "The people hiding in gorilla suits were the highlight of the race. Getting hit in the head with a banana was a new running experience for me," she said.

In a final sprint across the field, Ben Martens '06, Ben Peisch '05, and Nate Krah '08 were just able to catch Laura Onderko '08. Leading the next charge to the finish was Owen McKenna '07, closely followed by fellow sophomore Kristen Brownell. The men's first-year tandem of Tim Katlic and John Hall were able to chase down Alex Knapp '07, but Knapp fended off Jeb Bobsiene '07. In a final sprint to the finish Amy Ahearn '08 showed her speed as she edged out Jonah Popp '06 to finish sixth on the women's team.

Jamie Knight '07 finished soon thereafter. "The race was fantastic. I've never had a banana thrown at me while I was running, and was unaware that the wildlife in Maine included gorillas," she said. The eighth and final finisher for the women's team was Jill Schweitzer '06, finishing behind Ken Akiha '08 and Mike Record '06, and ahead of Oliver Cunningham '08 and Dan Hall '05.

By comparing the scores of the first five men and women finishers from the Bowdoin cross-country teams, the men beat the women. However, when considering the results, one must take into account that the women's second and sixth runners, Ellen Beth '05 and Sarah Podmaniczky '08, did not participate in the race. With them the women would have obviously won. Keeping everything in perspective, the women look forward to this coming Saturday when they will travel to Colby to compete in the NESCAC championship meet.

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Runners second at state
October 22, 2004

By Laura Onderko
Staff Writer

As the Bowdoin women's cross country team lined up for the start of the Maine state meet at Twin Brook Recreation Center in Cumberland, they prepared to face a course muddied by the previous day's rain and tough competition from NESCAC rivals Bates and Colby.

The women battled courageously and were rewarded with a second place finish behind Colby. Colby, ranked fourteenth nationally, placed all five runners in the top ten to receive a team score of 24 points. Bowdoin, with a team score of 49 points, held off third place Bates, which finished 57 points.

Respecting Colby's strength, but demonstrating the competitive spirit of the Bowdoin team, Jill Schweitzer '06 noted that, "Colby has made some big changes this season; they've turned into a very powerful team. However, we will still compete with them at least two more times this season, and judging by the way we train, I'm sure we will get closer to them each race. It was great to beat Bates and take second this past weekend."

Although eight teams ran in the Maine state meet, the real competition was between Colby, Bates, and Bowdoin. The three teams dominated the race, taking the top 18 spots.

Running against 96 other runners, the Bowdoin women were led by their two senior co-captains, Audra Caler '05, and Ellen Beth '05 who took second and third behind Colby runner Jessica Minty. Courtney Eustace '08 and Kristen Brownell '07 were the next two women for the Polar Bears to make the charge to the finish chute, and following Caler and Beth's example of teamwork, they finished thirteenth and fourteenth.

Brownell raced from the back, passing runners from Colby and Bates in the last half of the race, and ultimately passing Bates's fourth and fifth runners to catch Eustace. "I'm so pleased with how well Kristen Brownell has been training and racing. She is running with a lot of poise and intelligence," Coach Slovenski said.

Laura Onderko '08 and Sarah Podmaniczky '08 rounded out Bowdoin's first group of runners, finishing fifth and sixth for Bowdoin and snatching 18th and 21st overall, while Jamie Knight '07 and Amy Ahearn '08 lead the second charge to the finish to capture 35th and 36th. Battling the hilly course and muddy terrain Jill Schweitzer '06, Aisha Woodward '08 and Claire Discenza '05 sprinted to the finish, taking 40th, 42nd, and 50th respectively. Sarah Podmaniczky outraced several Colby runners who had beaten her in previous races. "We ran a great race at twin brooks, and we are excited to have two more chances to catch Colby, at NESCACs and Regionals," she said.

While Coach Slovenski was proud of the team's effort, he feels there is still room for improvement and hopes to get closer to Colby in future races. "We had a good race, but I think we looked a little tired. We're still training at a high level, and hopefully the hard work will pay off with better races in the next championships," he said.

Beth, racing for only the second time this season after being out due to injury, contributed greatly to the team's good showing, and is looking forward with optimism to future races. "We had some tough competition from strong teams like Bates and Colby, but we put in good effort and we are happy with our results. It was a windy day and the course wasn't very fast, but the team continued to improve its performance. Kristen Brownell and Sarah Podmaniczky had particularly strong races, but several other runners were also able to improve from their seeds. I think our state meet success is a good indication of our ability to have a strong finish to our season in the upcoming championship meets," she said.

The team's next venture is the Alumni Race this Saturday at Bowdoin, followed by NESCAC's on October 3 at Colby.

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Bates bests Bowdoin in state meet
October 22, 2004

By Benjamin Peisch
Staff Writer

The Bowdoin men's cross country team competed at the historic Maine State Cross Country Meet in Cumberland, Maine on Saturday. The men faced some stiff competition from Bates and Colby, and in a hard-fought race, the men placed second as a team, improving upon their disappointing third-place finish the year before.

Going into the meet, the men knew that they were going against one of the best teams they would face all year. Currently, Bates is ranked ninth in the nation, and the Bears had not run against a ranked team the entire season. Never daunted, the men developed a plan that they hoped would maximize their talent and make them competitive with the Bobcats. In the end, though, Bowdoin could not match the depth of Bates' talent, and wound up in a distant second place.

There were many bright spots for the Bears. Junior captain Andrew Combs went out hard with the leaders of the race, eventually finishing just behind sophomore Owen "Burt Reynolds" McKenna, who finished with a blazing kick down the final stretch. McKenna placed fourth, and Combs ranked fifth overall.

Shortly after the race, senior Ben Peisch led the charge for the second wave of Bowdoin runners. Peisch finished 13th, first-year Nate Krah was 15th, and senior Patrick Hughes placed 16th overall. This tight pack of Bowdoin runners will need to improve on their times if the Bears are to be competitive, but their tight finish indicates that they have the potential to work together and run much faster. All of Bowdoin's scoring runners were battling with Bates athletes the whole race, only to come up short at the finish.

Bates won the race by well over 20 points, a large margin in cross country meets. However, considering that Bates is one of the top teams in the whole country, the men were excited about their finish. Since the race, they have attacked their training with a religious zeal, waiting for their next shot at the big fish in the region: Bates, Tufts, Keene State, MIT, and Williams.

The men have a lot of work to do, and they will need stronger performances if they wish to be competitive in the NESCAC and New England Championships. Fortunately, Coach Slovenski has the men's team training hard and preparing to have their strongest performances in the biggest meets.

The men will be feeling extra manly for the NESCAC Championships in two weeks after taking on the women's team in a Battle of the Sexes staggered race on Saturday. Last year, the men crushed the women only to have their trophy taken away thanks to a sexual harassment suit brought on by the women's team against renowned "chauvinists" such as Ben Peisch. The men's cross country team will look to regain their trophy with another victory on Saturday, and ride that testosterone-soaked momentum all the way to the NESCAC Championships at Colby.

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Women Runners Race For First Place
October 15, 2004

By Laura Onderko

The Bowdoin women's cross-country team traveled to Westfield, Massachusetts to take on 18 teams at the Westfield Invitational on Saturday. The women triumphed over their competition, taking first with a team score of 34 points followed by the Coast Guard Academy and New York University, with 49 points and 96 points, respectively.

Leading the Bowdoin women as well as the rest of the runners was Audra Caler '05, who took first with a time of 19:10, winning by six seconds.

The rest of the team followed Caler closely, showing their strength and depth with Courtney Eustace '08 taking third with 19:23 and Ellen Beth '05, who returned to racing for the first time this year and immediately proving valuable to the team by placing fifth overall and third on the team with a time of 19:32.

After placing three of their runners in the top five, the Bowdoin women continued to race toward the finishing chute, placing their next four runners within the top 35. Kristen Brownell '07 and Laura Onderko '08, running together for most of the race, sprinted past the Coast Guard's fourth and fifth runners to come in just behind the Coast Guard's third runner and finish within a second of each other to take 12th and 13th. Leading Bowdoin's second charge to the finish was Sarah Podmaniczky '08, running strong to place 24th, followed closely by the last group of Bowdoin women, putting all nine of the Bowdoin runners within the top 40 with Alex Knapp '07 taking 33rd, Amy Ahearn '08 37th, and Jamie Knight '07 39th.

Since the top five runners determine the team score, Beth's ability to come back with such a strong race after missing the first two meets due to injury helped make the difference for the team. Following Coach Slovenski's advice, Beth and the rest of the women relied on the strategy of running together in groups and concentrating on negative splits.

The tactic proved effective. "I'm proud of how intelligently our top five runners raced at Westfield. It was important for us to run smart in the first mile, and then accelerate in the second half of the race. Audra, Courtney, Ellen, Kristen, and Laura all passed a lot of people in the final mile when the big races are decided," Slovenski said.

With the top five runners all within 45 seconds of each other, and continuing to get closer, Beth predicts that the team should be strong in the upcoming bigger meets.

"I feel like the results show that our young team continues to get stronger. We don't see many of these teams too often, but our pack is getting faster and closer together. It should be interesting to see what happens next weekend, and I think we have every reason to look forward to the state meet," she said.

The Bowdoin women's cross country team looks forward to taking on Colby, Bates, and other state rivals at the Maine State meet this Saturday at Twin Brook Park in Cumberland, a meet that will showcase the best collegiate cross country runners in Maine.

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Nice Guys Finish Second
October 15, 2004

By Benjamin Peisch

A week after dominating the University of Maine-Farmington Invitational, the Bowdoin men's cross country team traveled down to Westfield, Massachusetts to compete in the James Early Invitational. The men had a strong day, placing second behind a surprisingly strong Coast Guard Academy team.

The highlight of the meet for the men was captain Andrew Combs' performance. Known primarily for his prowess on the track before this season, Combs proved that he is a powerful force on the cross country course as well. Combs went toe-to-toe against Vassar standout Avi Kramer before sprinting to the overall crown in the final 400 meters.

Shortly after Combs placed first-year Patrick "Squirts" Pierce, who continued his strong debut season with an eighth-place finish. Junior "Super" Ben Martens was close behind in tenth, followed by bruised and bloodied sophomore Owen McKenna in twelfth. Freshman "Gator" Nate Krah completed the scoring for the men with a seventeenth-place finish overall.

Although their goal had been the team title, the men's narrow loss has not dampened their spirits. The race was the team's first major competition of the season, and the men made a number of mistakes along the way that can only be discovered in competition. The men know what they have to do to correct these mistakes and improve on their individual and team performances.

The team will need to be at the top of its game this Saturday at the State of Maine Championships in Cumberland, Maine. The runners will square off against one of the best Bates teams in a long time, currently ranked twelfth in the country. The team is not daunted, however. They have the talent and intelligence to race against the best. It will be a hard-fought battle, and the men are always ready for a good fight. So hop into your car and make your way down to Cumberland to support the Bowdoin runners on their track to glory.

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Bowdoin College · Track & Field · Cross Country · Brunswick, Maine · 04011 · 207-725-3010