Bowdoin performed well at the 2007 Maine State Meet, finishing with 205 points, good for second place. This was more than enough to knock off Colby (96) and the University of Southern Maine (USM) (73). However, it was not enough to defeat the talented and experienced squad from host Bates (226).
The Polar Bears did extremely well in the sprints, officially ending a mild slump that Bowdoin has had in the shorter events over the past few years. Damon Hall Jones '09, Lamont White '08, Zach Tretter '10, and Tim Fuderich '10 all placed in the 100-meter dash. The line of Polar Bears finished second (11.15s), fourth (11.31s), fifth (11.50s), and sixth (11.57s), respectively.
Hall-Jones and White repeated in the 200-meter dash, placing second (22.35s) and fifth (23.07s), respectively. They were joined by junior Brendan Egan in the event, who took fourth (23.03s).
Egan appeared again in the 400m, taking another fourth (50.79s), but he was beaten by fellow junior Eric Lee, who grabbed third place (50.57s).
For the second year in a row, Bowdoin's 4x100 relay team won its event. Smooth handoffs from Fuderich, Lee, and White let Hall-Jones anchor the team far ahead of the USM and Bates competitors.
In the middle distance events, a senior-first-year tandem of Owen McKenna and Thompson Ogilvie ran neck and neck the entire day. In the first part of their double, McKenna and Ogilvie took second and third in the 1500 (4:01.2 and 4:01.9, respectively) and then got back on the track to take fifth and sixth in the 800 (2:01.5 and 2:01.6), meaning that the 2,300 meters each of the teammates ran was separated by less than one second. Junior Tim Katlic joined the pair in the 1,500 to grab sixth (4:13.3).
In the first distance event of the day, junior Pat Pierce led Bowdoin with a fourth-place finish in the 10K (33:34). The 5K, still proving to be Bowdoin's premier event, was all Polar Bear up front. Junior Nate Krah won the race in 15:39, beating a Bates competitor by a nose. Fellow juniors John Hall and Tyler Londsdale followed close behind in third and fourth (15:40 and 15:43), respectively.
The Polar Bears also dominated the 110 hurdles. A sophomore tandem of Ike Irby and Michael Krohn placed second (16.06s) and third (16.26), drafting off of senior Joe Adu, who decisively won the event (15.06s). Irby and Adu stepped back on the track for the 400 hurdles, where they took second (57.6s) and fifth (1:01.6). Sophomore Alex Graber joined them, finishing right behind Adu in sixth (1:02.4).
The lone Polar Bear scorer in the steeplechase was first-year Colman Hatton, finishing with a kick that earned him second place (10:06).
In the field events, first-year Ben Weimont was Bowdoin's only scorer in the high jump, placing fourth with a jump of 1.86m (6'01"). Senior Robey Clark cleared the bar at 4.04m (13'3"), which led to a tie for second place in the pole vault.
Fuderich and Adu dominated the long jump, taking first (6.34m) and second (6.32m), respectively. First-year Colin Hay placed fifth in the triple jump (12.33m).
Sophomore Luke Fairbanks led Bowdoin in the throwing events, placing sixth in the discus (37.59m), fifth in the hammer (39.8m), and second in the shot put (14.4m). First-year James Bingham joined Fairbanks in the discus, taking fifth (39.65m). Tony Thrower pitched in a sixth place in the hammer throw (36.03m), and Ben Wharton placed third in the shot put (13.75m). Three Bowdoin athletes placed in the javelin. Weimont won the event (53.34m), followed by a Kyle Hebert '10 third (47.76m) and a Hall-Jones fourth (47.69m).
Qualifiers will travel to Middlebury this weekend for the NESCAC championship.