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Volume CXXXI, Number 23 |
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Bears beat out Colby at Alohas
GRACE CHO
STAFF WRITER
If you heard strains of Queen's "We Are the Champions"
ringing through campus recently, you probably know that the women's track
and field squad won the Aloha Relays last Saturday. The women left the
stadium running and singing to celebrate their victory over rivals Colby,
Bates, Mt. Holyoke, the University of Southern Maine, and the University
of Massachusetts at Lowell.
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| Sophomore Kristen Dummer takes off in the 100-meter dash. (Karsten Moran, Bowdoin Orient) |
The women were especially motivated to perform well after
last week's loss to Colby at MIT. Their team score of 192.5 points beat
the second-place White Mules by 54 points.
It wasn't a runaway victory, though. At the Alohas' halfway
point, Bowdoin and Colby were tied with 83.5 points each.
However, several surprising races and one-two-three finishes
in the 3000-meter and triple jump events gave the Bears a final push over
Colby.
For senior captain Casey Kelley, the team's hard-fought
victory at the relays meant more to her than defending her Aloha triple
jump title for the third year in a row. Jumping 39 feet and 9.25 inches,
she led the way for fellow teammates Acadia Senese '03 and captain Karen
Yeoman '02, who placed right behind her at second and third in the event.
Both captains were thrilled at teammate Senese's personal
record. "Acadia's personal best performance in the triple jump was
inspiring," Yeoman said. "She is poised to do great things in
the upcoming championship season."
Casey said that hearing the final team scores and the announcement of
Bowdoin's victory meant a lot to the seniors. "It was our last home
meet, and it was only the third time in 14 years that Bowdoin has won
Alohas," she said.
Performances from Meka Decyk '02 in the pole vault, Marybeth
Sexton '05 and Ellen Beth '05 in the 5000-meter, and Julia Febiger '03
in the 400 meter hurdles helped solidify the Bowdoin win.
One of the day's biggest achievements came from Febiger.
She took a commanding lead after the first 100 meters, and ran the remaining
part of the race alone. Her winning time of 1:03.44 was a time that qualified
her for outdoor nationals.
"I was psyched with my race!" she said. "My
attitude for this season is to go for it during every race, because I
realized that you can't wait around for the perfect one. You have to make
it happen yourself."
Febiger is currently ranked sixth in Division III women's
400 hurdles. Decyk, who hadn't competed the previous weekend because of
illness, bounced back in time for the Alohas, vaulting a height of 10
feet and .75 inches to break her own school record and place second in
the event.
Both Sexton and Beth had been running mid-distance events
throughout the season, but were placed in the 5000-meter run for the weekend-surprising
quite a few people. They both ran championship meet qualifying times in
their first 5000-meter race of the season. Sexton, with a time of 18:48.4,
marked a personal record by over a minute.
The Alohas were the Bears' last meet of the regular season before postseason qualifying races begin this weekend. The women hope to carry last weekend's success over and make a strong showing at NESCACs tomorrow and Sunday at Bates.