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Volume CXXXI, Number 24 |
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Track takes second
TAYLOR WASHBURN
STAFF WRITER
Last weekend, the Bowdoin Men's Track and Field Team traveled
to Lewiston to compete in the New England Small College Athletic Conference
Championships, hosted by Bates. Enduring gusts of wind and icy rain, the
Polar Bears pulled off a powerful second-place finish behind perennial
champion Williams. The squad also earned several individual championships
and flattened rivals Bates and Colby.
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| Brian Laurits '04, who finished third in the 100m and the 200m. (Henry Coppola, Bowdoin Orient) |
All-American high jumper James Wilkins '04 won the first
individual medal for the Bears, blowing away the competition with a leap
of 6'7" and qualifying provisionally for the NCAA championship meet.
He was followed by junior Tim Pasekarnis, who placed third overall with
a jump of 6'0" and doubled back to lead Bowdoin with another third
place finish in the pole vault (13'3").
Sophomore Brian Grandjean and senior Mike Butler followed
in fourth and seventh with vaults of 12'9" and 12'3", respectively.
Long jumper Tung Trinh '04 also racked up some points with a personal
best of 20'8" (fifth place) and triple jump expert Dan Ginn '03 placed
sixth with a jump of 43'0".
In the throwing events, senior captain Nick Lyford was one
of the meet's strongest competitors, placing fifth overall in the shot
put and third in the javelin. Ginn, one of New England's top decathletes,
earned his second sixth-place finish of the day with a javelin throw of
153'10". Sophomore Chris Wagner also picked up points for the Polar
Bears with a seventh-place toss of 132'10" in the discus.
Sophomore Brian Laurits led the charge in sprinting events,
picking up third-place finishes in both the 100-meter dash (11:21) and
the 200-meter dash (22:56).
Classmates Phil Webster (49:50) and Greg Bangser (51:20)
galloped to second and fourth places in the 400-meters. They also joined
Laurits and first-year half-miler Greydon Foil for a 4 x 400-meter relay
that placed second behind a team from Williamstown. Foil also picked up
points in his individual event, placing seventh in the 800-meter run behind
junior Byron Boots (fourth, 1:57) and senior captain Mike Pesa-Fallon
(sixth, 1:57).
Junior Pat Vardaro won his first individual NESCAC championship
in the 5,000-meter run, fighting headwinds, Ephs, and Jumbos as he cruised
away from the pack in the last half mile to pick up a six second victory
with a time of 14:50. He was followed by classmate Jeff Rubens, who clocked
15:16 en route to a fourth-place finish.
In the meet's longest event, the 10,000-meter run, juniors
Todd Forsgren and Conor O'Brien demonstrated mental and physical endurance
and outlasted numerous opponents, earning second (31:56) and fifth (32:11)
place finishes, respectively.
Senior miler Dave Wall (known to fans as Mad Dog) capped a stellar comeback season with second place in the 1,500-meter run. With a quarter mile left in the race, Wall left two Williams runners in the dust and managed to gain ground on defending NCAA Division III champion Ryan Bak of Trinity. Mad Dog also closed Bowdoin's Distance Medley Relay, which finished second overall in a close battle with Bates.