In the seconds after the gun went off at the Jumbo Invitational last Saturday, spectators may not have been optimistic for the Polar Bears' finish. As runners climbed the first hill of the 5K race that sultry afternoon, Bowdoin's varsity runners loitered between the 30th and 40th place runners.
By the end of the rolling, muddy course, however, Bowdoin had successfully worked its way up in the field, with Annie Monjar '09 taking second, Christina Argueta '11 in fifth, and Courtney Martin '09 in 10th.
The conservative start proved a smart strategy for the Bears, who placed 4th overall, edged out by the meet's host, Tufts University, along with Connecticut College and Stonehill College.
Though the Polar Bears won the Jumbo Invitational last year, the team's captains, Martin and Monjar, remain positive about the direction the direction the season is going.
"We had a lot of our varsity runners missing for various reasons on Saturday," said Martin. "We'd only had a week of training behind us, and I think we showed that we have a solid base to be running our fastest in late October and November."
Peaking at the right time is a top priority for the Bears this year, who look to defend the State Championship title they earned last year, as well as a top-five finish at the NESCAC Championship and in the NCAA New England Regional Championship.
The Polar Bears graduated four of their top seven varsity runners last year, including Laura Onderko '08 and Sarah Podmaniczky '08, both of whom earned All-New England honors at the regional meet.
"Every year it's a good challenge and a great education to replace graduated seniors," said Head Coach Peter Slovenski. "We graduated an exceptional class, and we're doing our best to rise up to the standard they set for the team."
As they look ahead to future races, the team will rely heavily on the return of varsity runners Lindsey Schickner '09, Lindsay Hodge '10, and Grace Kerr '09, whose running will add a lot of depth to the line-up.
"Our top runners will be very competitive with the top runners of other NESCAC schools," said Slovenski on areas to improve the teams' overall performance. "But we need to gain more confidence and speed in our fourth, fifth, and sixth runners. That's where we're vulnerable right now."
The Bears have another opportunity to race against the Jumbo Invitational's top three teams again next weekend at Connecticut College. There, they'll compete in a 6K race at Harkness Memorial Park with 16 other teams. The meet will give the Polar Bears an opportunity to race with their full varsity lineup and to see what some of the competition will look like as they move toward the approaching major championship meets.