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Volume CXXXII, Number 22 |
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Women's track gets leid at the Aloha's
JULIA FEBIGER
STAFF WRITER
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| Julia Febiger '03 won the 400-meter hurdles at the Aloha Relays. (Karsten Moran, Bowdoin Orient) |
If you happened to be on the quad late Saturday afternoon, then you probably wondered what all the commotion was about. Yes, those sleek, stylish women-clad only those curious track uniforms and leis-were the blur of black that ran by you.
The women were celebrating their efforts in the Aloha Relays earlier that day. Although the Bears placed third overall-losing to Colby and USM, but beating out Bates, Mt. Holyoke, and Brandeis-the women provided a ton of stellar performances.
Captain Libby Barney '03 said, "I had a lot of fun at the meet, and the Aloha spirit was definitely there." The Aloha Relays is an extra fun track meet both to be at and participate in. The top five finishers in open events, as well as the top three teams in the relays, were rewarded with Hawaiian leis.
The meet started off with the 10,000-meter run. For those of you who don't know, that is a whopping 25 laps around the outdoor track. Ellen Beth '05 ran an inspired race, coming in fourth with a time of 40:37. Take a moment to seriously think about how long an amount of time that is to be racing-we all give Ellen a lot of credit.
On the opposite end of the track spectrum, Sara "smokin'" Bodnar '03 took second place in the 100-meter dash, and teammate Ruth Jacobson '06 took fifth. Bodnar also sprinted to a fourth place finish in the 200-meter.
The Bears showed their strength again in the mid-distance events. Kat Martens '04 busted out in a time of 61.34 to place third in the 400. Katie Walker '05 had an excellent day in the 800. Going up against her unofficial rival from Bates, Walker was determined to win this grudge-match. She executed a smart race and finished in first place with a time of 2:17.85.
Teammates Kate "Best Kick" Brinkerhoff '03 and Emily Sheffield '06 kicked it in for fourth and fifth place respectively. Coach Peter Slovenski said, "Possibly the best performance of the day was Kate Brinkerhoff's fourth place in the 800. She has had a wonderful senior year, and she improved her personal best by four seconds with a 2:21."
Despite a persistently sore hip, Kala Hardacker '04 had a courageous run in the 1500. She finished third with a time of 5:01. Libby Barney '03 made a stellar comeback in the 1500 and placed second with a time of 4:47. Apparently Barney is made of steel, because she not only got second in the 1500, but she also easily won the 3000-meter run with a time of 10:50.
Grace Cho '05 ran to a sixth place finish in the 3000 with a time of 13:27. Finishing off the long-distance events was Mary Beth Sexton '05 in the 5000. She placed fifth overall with a time of 19:16.
In the field events, senior Cait Fowkes '03 was on fire once again. In the high jump, Fowkes jumped 4'11.75" to place fifth. In the shot put, Fowkes placed fourth with a throw of 34' 6." In addition, she beat her previous personal best in the hammer with a tremendous heave that soared to 130'10".
During her senior season, Fowkes has been repeatedly achieving personal records. Due to an incredible work ethic, Fowkes continues to dominate the field. She attributes part of her success to Coach Saint Pierre, saying "He is definitely a huge part of all of the throwers making huge improvements in their events. He's been very encouraging and patient breaking down technique for the shot and hammer and keeping us working hard in the weight room." Also competing in the hammer was Lynne Davies '04 with a throw of 87' 05".
"We have a terrific senior class, and I was impressed by how well the seniors did in their final home meet," said Slovenski. One such outstanding performance was in the triple jump. Senior Acadia Senese jumped to second place with a leap of 34' 00" on her final attempt.
Julia Febiger '03 won the 400 hurdles with a time of 1:05.17. When asked to comment on the race, Solvenski said, "By the third hurdle she had pulled away by about five meters but was struck down by cruel fate in the form of a hurdle that was about four feet taller than it was supposed to be. She hurdled it as gracefully as she could, considering it was higher than her high jump PR [personal record]."
The coach continued, "I looked around for the hurdle crew and saw them behind the bleachers smoking and drinking." That will probably be the last time Coach Slovenski borrows a hurdle crew from Bates.
Also competing in the 400 hurdles was Natasha Camilo '06 with a time of 1:14.34. In the 100-meter hurdles, Camilo sprinted to a second place finish in 17.58.
Bowdoin had two fabulous athletes participating in the heptathlon. Emily "Hep. Queen" Hackert '06 and Allison "Courage of a Lion" Cherry '04 had many successes throughout the meet.
Cherry had solid performances all around, despite the fact that she was feeling the repercussions of fighting an illness for two weeks prior to the competition. Coach Slovenski and the team were impressed with her courage and determination in finishing the heptathlon with the team in mind.
Hackert had an amazing first performance in the hep. She came in second overall, but was the top finisher in over half of her events. Hackert said of her first heptathlon, "I was completely exhausted by the end of it, but it was a blast! I had the best time doing it and was really pleased with how it turned out. Even though I won't be doing it the rest of this season, I am really excited to see what I can do in it in the future."
At the end of the day, Hackert had amassed 3,349 points, qualifying her for NESCACs. Cherry finished with 2,701 points. Too bad the bears couldn't put all those points towards the team score!
Giving the Aloha Relays its name were the Bowdoin 4x100, 4x400, and 4x800 teams. The 4x100 (Martens, Hackert, Febiger, Bodnar) sprinted to third place, improving their time to 51.31.
The 4x400 squad (Jane Cullina '04, Sheffield, Walker, Febiger) became the Aloha champs for the second year in a row in their seasons best of 4:07. The 4x800 (Molly Juhlin '05, Davies, Yanikoski, Brinkerhoff) placed third with an improved time of 10:11.02.
Some members of the track team think that one meet per week is not enough. Hardcore athletes Davies and Allie Yanikoski '06 headed to Bates on Tuesday to compete again. Both women had amazing performances. Davies qualified for NESCACs in the 1500 with a time of 5:09, while Yanikoski qualified for NESCACs in the 400 with a time of 62 seconds.
The women head to Williams this weekend to compete in the NESCAC championship meet. NESCACs are a very competitive meet for the Bears, and the team has its sight set on a top-five finish.
Fowkes said, "The whole women's team has had a determined and dedicated attitude since the fall, and I think that we have all thrived off one another's attitudes."
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