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Volume CXXXIII, Number 2 |
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Colby runners can't keep up the distance
ALLIE YANIKOSKI
STAFF WRITER
The sun squinted through the trees onto Colby's rolling trails last Saturday, spying a horde of women in black spandex charging toward the finishing chute. The Bowdoin women comfortably defeated Colby 21-34. The top five Bowdoin finishers, who account for the team score, all crossed the line in the top eight out of 34 places.
Before the race began, head coach Peter Slovenski divided the women into four groups, each with designated leaders to set the pace through the first couple of miles so that the women could work through the course together.
"Having different pace groups to start with during the race seemed to work really well," said Jill Schweitzer '06. "I think the group effort helped pull us along as individuals, and it obviously worked out for the best."
Audra Caler '05 and Neoma Palmer '07 led the first pack, joined by Ellen Beth '05, Kala Hardacker '04, and Kristen Brownell '07. Caler and Palmer pulled ahead as the group neared the finish, beating all the competitors with times of 19:54 and 19:55 on the 5-kilometer course, respectively. Colby's top female runner, junior Karina Johnson, who attained All-New England status in the New England Division III regional meet last season, finished a significant seven seconds behind Palmer.
Beth crossed the line just a few meters behind Johnson, followed by Hardacker and Brownell, collectively claiming the fourth, sixth, and eighth places, and all within 40 seconds of each other.
Senior Lynne Davies pursued her teammates through the course, leading the second pack of Polar Bears.
"I focused on going out conservatively, on letting Colby go out fast, and then catching up," said Davies.
Just under a mile and a half into the course, Davies charged up the toughest hill, and found herself isolated between two groups of Bowdoin runners. Davies battled an onslaught of Colby women, finishing in 12th place with a time of 21:33.
After a brief and unpleasant stampede of mules, Allie Yanikoski '06, Schweitzer '06, Claire Dicenza '05, and Alix Roy '07 raced into the chute, capturing the 20th, 21st, 22nd, and 23rd places, respectively
Seniors Chelsea Spector and Katy Adikes cleared the way for the final throe of Bowdoin women. First-years Kat Hayes, Rio Watanabe, Catrina Cartagena, and Kristen Lycett worked together as planned, completing their first college races laudably.
The women executed their first race of the season "with intelligence," said Coach Slovenski. He praised the women for their patience in holding back in the early miles in order to pass Colby runners at the end.
The defeat of Colby was even more impressive, as the Bowdoin women were
four runners short of their full team. First-years Livy Lewis, Megan Swann,
and Alice Lee and junior Katie Landry deferred the start of their competitive
seasons. Landry will join the top nine finishers from the Colby meet this
weekend in an NYU invitational meet at Van Cortland Park in New York.
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