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Volume CXXXIII, Number 12 |
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Men in black take first place at Brandeis Invitational
BENJAMIN PEISCH
STAFF WRITER
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| Jordan Harrison ’04 competes in the 800-meter at the Brandeis Invitational. Harrison placed fourth, 3.41 seconds behind teammate and race winner Steve Franklin ’04. (Courtesy of Eric Sofen) |
The men's track team participated in its first meet of the season at the Reggie Poyau Memorial Meet held at Brandeis University. While the Bears have enjoyed success at the meet in the past, 2004 was especially kind to the men in black. When all the points were tallied, Bowdoin had amassed 175, destroying their closest competitor, the University of Southern Maine, by more than 80 points.
The men were fueled by a staggering amount of first-place finishes. In the sprints, Phil Webster '04 won the 200-meter and senior captain Brian Laurits dominated the 400-meter for an easy win.
The middle distance events were even more successful. Greydon Foil '05 won the 600-meter going away, as did Andrew Combs '06 in the 800 meter.
Steve Franklin '04 showed his race patience and tactical brilliance by kicking hard off of a slow pace to win the 1000-meter comfortably. The men also swept the relays, winning the 4x400 relay, the 4x800 relay, and the Distance Medley relay, all by large margins.
While there were many outstanding individual feats, the performance of the day, unquestionably, was senior captain James Wilkins in the high jump. Wilkins not only won easily, but also qualified for nationals in the event with a leap of 6'9." He came within a hair of breaking the long-standing school record of Bowdoin track legend Mark Preece '82.
Franklin also had an outstanding day. In addition to winning the 1000-meter, he also ran critical legs of both the victorious 4x800 and Distance Medley relays, leading the team in points with 30 total.
After taking care of business at Brandeis, the Bears invited many of the same teams up to Brunswick the next weekend for another meet, which had remarkably similar results. The men delivered another Aroostook County-sized beating on everyone in attendance wearing colors other than black and white, winning by over 60 points. Once again, the men were led by many individual victories.
The sprint and middle distance crews changed things up as Foil moved down to win the 400-meter, while Webster and Combs both moved up to win the 600-meter and the 1000-meter, respectively. Freshman sensation Owen "O-Mac" McKenna used an inspired kick to win the mile run, and Patrick Hughes '05 ran intelligently to win the 3000-meter. In typical fashion, the 4x400 meter relay team and Wilkins (high jump) both won easily.
The performance of the day came from senior captain Chris Wagner, who won both throwing events, the shot put and the weight throw. Wagner has steadily progressed throughout his career and has placed himself among the best throwers in the region.
While there were many strong performances by Bowdoin athletes who did not win their events, several in particular stood out. Pat Lyons '06 had a clutch throw in the shot put to both PR, qualify for New Englands, and place him second only to Wagner. Freshman James "Bloody" Knuckles '07 continued to impress by placing second in the 600-meter losing only to the defending New England champion, teammate Webster. The event that scored the most points for the Polar Bears was the 400-meter, due to senior Greg Bangser's second-place finish behind Foil. He was followed shortly by Combs in fourth place, making the event the most lucrative of the day for the Bears with 22 points.
By the time classes had started, the Bowdoin men's indoor track team held an impressive record of 11-0, padded by double victories over Brandeis, Colby and USM. Many athletes are competing at the top of their game, and many stand at or near the top of the New England rankings in their event, which is a good indication as to how the team will compete against the rest of the region. However, leading in the rankings means nothing in head-to-head competition, and the men have yet to face the top teams in New England.
That will change on Saturday, January 31, when perennial powers Tufts and MIT will make the trip north to Brunswick to compete in a Tri-Meet against the Bears. The meet will feature many of the top athletes in the region. Field events will start at 1:00 p.m. in Farley Field House, running events at 2:00 p.m., and the competition will go until 4:30 p.m.
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