Volume CXXXIII, Number 8 November 2, 2001 f

Men's cross country captures NESCAC crown
ALEX MOORE
STAFF WRITER

The Bowdoin Men's Cross Country Team won the NESCAC championship on its home course last Saturday, snapping Williams's seven-year hold on the title.

Steve Allison '01. (Colin LeCroy, Bowdoin Orient)

The Polar Bears finished with 46 points, while second-place Tufts tallied 71. The top two were followed by third-place Trinity (75) and fourth-place Williams (77 points).

Bates, Amherst, Colby, Connecticut College, Wesleyan, Hamilton, and Middlebury finished fifth through eleventh, respectively.

The Bowdoin men showed a mastery of their home course in their second-ever NESCAC win. The Polar Bears, ranked seventh in the latest Division III national poll, showcased their talent and tenacity against eighth-ranked Tufts, 16th-ranked Trinity, and 21st-ranked Williams.

The Bowdoin men had 6 runners cross the line before any team had five runners finish. Co-captain Steve Allison '01, the 2000 NESCAC individual men's champion, ran a courageous race, placing second with a time of 25:03 as Bowdoin's first finisher.

Co-captain Todd Forsgren '03 took fifth place with 25:20, and junior Pat Vardaro, only two weeks after severely spraining his ankle, finished 9th with 25:41.

Sophomore Scott Herrick ran his best race of the season, finishing in 13th place. Juniors Scott Barbuto and Jeff Rubens finished 17th and 19th, respectively. The three finished within nine seconds of each other.

Conor O'Brien '03 showed his usual toughness, finishing as Bowdoin's seventh man and in 35th place. Senior co-captain Rich Sherman ran a PR, beating his best time by 25 seconds in his second-to-last collegiate cross country race.

Dan Gulotta '03, Ben Peisch '05, Alex Moore '03, and Taylor Washburn '04 rounded out the Bowdoin pack, close behind O'Brien and Sherman.
"We have been waiting for this type of success for a while, and we finally earned it," Sherman said. "Having 12 guys running under 27:30 for five miles is an impressive feat."

Allison agreed. "The team stepped up, but it is still just scratching the surface of its ability," he said. "We need for our top seven to be tougher, faster and more confident to party national-style."

Forsgren, known for his take-no-prisoners running style, joked, "I had my X-ray goggles on during the race...I was looking into the hearts of the other runners and they were full of fear. Their heads were full of doubt; we were strong and confident."

"The race was a wonderful experience," Sherman said. "We surprised some people last year, and I think that we did the same this year.

"Before the season, one of our goals was to win NESCAC's at home," he continued. "This is a great step for us, because champions know how to execute and win, and we did it perfectly."

Head Coach Peter Slovenski was proud of his team and the home crowd. "There was a terrific amount of electricity from the crowd. The cheering was tremendous in the woods, on the fields, and then at the awards ceremony," he said.

"The NESCAC meet always attracts a big crowd, and Saturday was no exception," Sherman said. "At times, the crowd was deafening, especially around Harpswell Apartments, the turf field, and the last 300-meter stretch.
"In a big-time meet like NESCAC's, you take all the advantages that you can get, and I think that having the meet at home during Homecoming weekend provided us with some extra motivation," he added.

Slovenski said that his team had been visualizing a NESCAC victory at home for a long time. "We could see this coming for the past twelve months," he said. We were hosting and knew we would have a good team in the race. The guys did a lot of preparation to make sure we had enough force to be contenders and give us a chance to win this one at home."

The New England Division III Championship is one week from tomorrow at Westfield State in Massachusetts.

The Bears, ranked first in New England, are favored to win the regional race. "I think that we have a good shot at finishing first at DIII's, but we just want to run fast enough to get to Nationals," Sherman said. "Everyone brings all of their top guns to this race, so you never really know.

"I mean, in two weeks, MIT can build all types of androids, cyborgs, and other types of robots that could conceivably beat us, and Williams has some extra salary cap room," he continued.

This Saturday, the eighth-14th varsity runners travel to Williams for the ECAC Cross Country Championship. "The team going to ECAC's can beat most other teams in the NESCAC," Allison said. "They're all great runners."

Bowdoin's top seven men have the weekend off, in order to rest and prepare for NE's and nationals.