The black-capped chickadee is Maine's official state bird. Maine's official state berry is the wild blueberry. The Bowdoin Cross Country Team is the official Men's Division III state champion.
Unlike the chickadee or the blueberry, Bowdoin's title is not a perennial feat. The cross-country team has come from every corner of the nation, running as many as 90 miles per week to claim this title and establish itself as the frontrunner for the NESCAC Championship and put itself in contention for a top-10 finish at DIII Nationals.
At the state meet, at Bowdoin's Pickard Field on Saturday, the team placed four out of the top eight racers to claim the victory. Sophomore Archie Abrams (25:53.38, third) and senior Owen McKenna (25:55.53, fourth) led the Polar Bears, followed by first-year Thompson Ogilvie (25:55.85, fifth). Juniors John Hall and Nate Krah rounded out Bowdon's top five for a total of 33 team points, beating Bates (56 points) and the Bobcats' Steve Monsulick, who ran the winning time of 25:33.08.
Colby placed third overall with 59 points thanks to a second-place finish by Daniel Vassallo (25:42.72).
Arguably more impressive than the state championship was Bowdoin's 10th place (out of 40) finish at Open New Englands on October 7. Bowdoin stunned the NESCAC competition by taking first place among competing DIII schools, including division rivals Tufts, Williams, and Wesleyan. Among the successes of the day were sub-26-minute finishes from Abrams, McKenna, Krah, Ogilvie and 26:02 from John Hall '08.
The team's triumphs at Open New Englands and the state meet revealed the efficacy of the team's training and potential. Coach Peter Slovenski said two things about the team at these meets.
"We're healthy and we've done a lot of training for the past five months," he said.
Looking ahead, Slovenski added, "We think the hard work we've done will pay off with good results in the championships."
"Leadership from everyone""We've always looked up to Andrew Combs ['06]. He was a four-time All-American, a leader, and without him there would be a lot of disconnects on our team?he was the 'Socrates' of Bowdoin cross-country," said Ken Akiha '08, who ran a 26:31, the race of his life, on Saturday.
Nate Krah '08 echoed Akiha's sentiment about Combs and added, "Andrew is the one unifying guy between us and the 2002 NESCAC Championship team."
Combs's legacy lives on in the minds of the upperclassmen but Krah believes "the amazing thing about this year's team is that we've filled the leadership gaps left by Combs. All of us were captains of our high school XC teams so the theme of this year has been leadership from everyone."
How exactly does "leadership from everyone" translate into five Polar Bears running five consecutive miles faster than 5:10 per mile?
"Everyone has a role," said Ahika. "The guy who keeps the slow pace on easy day is just as crucial as the guy who paces the team to a 4:50 interval mile at the end of a workout."
The "leadership from everyone" concept seems to be working for Bowdoin XC as the top five runners are all clustered within a minute of each other for the five mile race. The XC members do have a choice as to how they want to spend the hours of 4 p.m. until 7 p.m. every day through college.
With such rigorous training day in and day, Akiha highlighted that the "great energy and leadership of the first-years keeps us excited to run."
Contributions from everyone create what Krah calls "a family. A band of brothers."
Summer trainingRunning experts say that taking one week off of running takes away about three weeks of training. That means one thing for top Bowdoin runners: somehow they must fit daily running into their summer schedule. This summer, Hall held a job where he had to leave for work at 8 a.m. and would get back at 6 p.m. Hall, a
Sarah and James Bowdoin scholar, said every day he would "get back late, run, cook, and eat, and after all that I would be so tired I would head right to bed."
To incorporate running into his life he would often do errands and "run back with my hands full."
Florida native Krah faced a different set of problems: it's hard to do a 15 mile long run in 100 degree heat. Krah would often get up at 6 a.m. to get his workout in.
The Bowdoin runners' mileage peaks at the beginning of September. Many of the top runners run 75 or even 90 miles a week leading up to the first official team practices.
Every Sunday at the beginning of the season, runners do the legendary "Beans in the Back" run. Runners start at Bowdoin and touch the front door of L.L. Bean and run back for a total of 18 hilly miles.
Krah claimed, "Bowdoin runners have been doing the run for ever, it's the peak, the ultimate run."
Health, patience, persistenceAt the Open New Englands championship, Abrams came from 40th place at mile two, slowly moved up and jolted at the chute to catch two runners. Abrams claimed 15th at the meet to win the title of "All-New England" while finishing as the second DIII runner. Out most of last year with an injury, Abrams's race parallels his road to recovery.
"There was a lot of frustration, but I just had to keep believing and keep telling myself I have three more years," said Abrams, who finished first for Bowdoin at the Open New Englands in a blistering 25:13. To lighten the heavy toll pavement running takes on a runner, Abrams has been diligently "aquajogging" three days a week.
Abrams's teammate Hall added, "He works so hard with the cross training. These recovery efforts are clearly paying off. It's really exciting to see Archie doing so well?it's great for him and great for the team."
Slovenski highlighted the importance of patience and persistence in Archie's road to recovery.
"Archie always had the talent to be an all-star cross-country runner, and this year he has the patience," Slovenski said. "The five-mile race is so long and the training volume is so high that you need to be patient with yourself and the workouts."
Captain Tyler Lonsdale '08 believes Abrams's training reveals the team's focus on individualized training and holds "many talented runners achieve success by realizing their individual needs, and by approaching training as an art rather than a science. Archie has found how to harness and develop his talent most effectively, which is really starting to pay off for him. It's always a great thing to watch happen."