Any runner knows that the sport of cross-country gives no guarantees. Four wins in the first five races and a third-place ranking in the NESCAC would not grant Bowdoin a free ride to the NCAA finals. But after a fifth-place showing at New England's and their season's success as whole, the Bears received an at-large bid to Nationals.
The team got off the bus at Connecticut College for Saturday's New England regional qualifier knowing that only a top-two finish would allow an advance to the national championships. The running trail was tailored to bypass the marsh areas that flooded with last year's storms, leaving the course dry, flat, and fast. Cool, sunny weather provided ideal racing conditions for the runners who have had to struggle through scorching heat for the majority of the season.
Senior Nate Krah led the Bowdoin runners with a fourth place finish at 25:07. Krah paced himself beautifully, gradually working his way from 50th place after the first mile to a convincing bid for the win with a half-mile to go, finally finishing in fourth place.
"Nate's performance was very well-executed," said Tyler Lonsdale '08. "He definitely proved that he can run with anyone in the region and perhaps the country."
Thompson Ogilvie '10 finished five seconds after Krah in 13th place and was followed by John Hall '08 in 19th, Colman Hatton '10 in 56th, and Lonsdale in 58th. Each crossed the finish line with the same question: Was it enough to guarantee an advance?
Unfortunately for Bowdoin, it wasn't. Amherst, Williams, Tufts, and Trinity all finished before the Bears in the NESCAC-dominated race. It wasn't as if Bowdoin ran poorly; the competition just performed better.
"We ran our hearts out," said senior Ken Akiha. "Four other teams just happened to run amazingly as well."
The fifth place finish guaranteed nothing for the Bears. The team headed home, its fate subject to the mercy of a selection committee that has the power to vote additional schools to the NCAA championships. The maximum number of teams any one region can send to Nationals is five, meaning that New England would have to send all the schools it possibly could for Bowdoin to gain an NCAA berth. With the announcement on Sunday night, the Bears were stuck in the limbo, and could only wait.
The phone rang on Sunday with the news that the selection committee had looked well upon Bowdoin?New England would send all five schools to Nationals, including the Bears.
"I am the happiest for Tyler, who missed out on our Nationals experience last year due to injury," Akiha said. "He has worked so hard and as a two-time captain, this is definitely what he deserves."
The team will indulge in the luxury of air travel for next week's 8,000-meter race in the wilds of southern Minnesota's St. Olaf College. Not a bit distraught by its close call with rejection, the team is optimistic about facing the best schools in Division III. "We had the fastest 6th and 7th runners in the race, which I think is a tribute to our depth, and at Nationals, nothing benefits you more than depth," Akiha said. "We have seven guys who could potentially be in the top 75 at Nationals."