After a series of smaller races at home, the men's track team took to the road as one of the 25 schools competing in the New England Championships last weekend. The Bears finished in ninth place in an impressive showing at the meet held at Tufts.
Though running events dominate track meets, Bowdoin's greatest success came from the thrower's circle, where junior Luke Fairbanks hurled his third personal best. Seeded third, Fairbanks led all competition after the first round of trials, but was then edged out of first by .07 meters in the fifth round out of six. His second place finish was the best among a flurry of top-ten results for Bowdoin on the day.
"Luke showed a lot of poise in the way he came through today," Head Coach Peter Slovenski said. "Some of his opponents were pressing to get off a good throw, but Luke was patient and explosive."
After a week of stoic focus and preparation, Fairbanks's triumph came as no surprise to his impressed teammates.
"He is a quiet leader who just gets it done," Nate Krah '08 said of Fairbanks. "He's going to do big things outdoors and as a senior next year."
Damon Hall-Jones '09 ran well in his trial race for the 300-meter dash, placing third overall. Although he would improve his time by .05 seconds in the final heat to finish 22.70, his performance matched that of Deividas Seferis of Williams who placed third with Damon. Given the closeness of the results, officials were forced to examine the finish to the 1/100th of a second and unfortunately awarded third place to Seferis.
Senior anchor Lamont White teamed up with Alex Jeanty '11, Eric Lee '08, and Brendan Egan '08 for a stunning fifth-place finish in the 4x400-meter relay. The four commanded the unseeded section of the relay with smart and brave showing that allowed them to stretch their lead to fifth place overall.
"Lamont had the fastest split of the relay," Slovenski said of White, whose final leg ripped fifth place from trailing Tufts. "He ran a great anchor."
Perhaps most encouraging for Bowdoin were the breakout performances by first years Jeanty and Tim Katlic, who each placed in their first New England Championships. The two both overcame the disadvantages of high seeds to finish eighth in their respective races?Jeanty in the 600, Katlic in the 1,000. The team has spent this past week training in eager anticipation of this Saturday's meet at Boston University, where the Bears performed phenomenally five weeks ago. Though the toughest competition in New England awaits them, Egan is incredibly confident.
"I know our runners are chomping at the bit to get another chance at that banked track," he said.