With cross country alumni cheering, a course they had run on countless times before, and the state title they earned last year, the women's cross country squad felt right at home at the Maine State Championships this past Homecoming weekend.
"I think the fact that so many of us ran a personal best on a really hilly course shows that we were really ready and determined to take on this race," said Holly Jacobson '11. "Even though we lost to Colby, I think we all had a great day."
The Polar Bears finished with three All-State runners this year: Annie Monjar '09, who finished first in 18:40 over the 5K course, Christina Argueta '11 in fourth with a personal best of 18:56, and Courtney Martin '09 in sixth, who also ran a personal best of 19:10. Colby, however, managed to put six runners in the top 15 spots, edging out Bowdoin by 16 points.
Despite losing the state title, the feeling around Bowdoin's campsite at Twin Brooks Park this past Saturday was one of satisfaction.
The Bears have had two consecutive individual State champions, with Laura Onderko '08 finishing first at last year's Championship.
Coach Peter Slovenski agreed with Jacobson's sentiment.
"We had a great day," he said. "Our front-runners ran very well, and we had a lot of personal best performances throughout the line-up. The team showed a lot of pride and determination this race."
After a less-than-satisfactory performance at Open New England's last weekend, Bowdoin was ready to give the State Championship all they had. Going out in a sub-six-minute mile?a zealous opening for such a rolling course?the Bears challenged Colby's front-runners from the beginning.
"Annie set a very fast pace for the runners through the first mile," Slovenski recalled of the race. "Christina Argueta, Courtney Martin, and three other Colby runners [were] in the next pack."
Starting at a quick pace is a strategy the Bears were glad to practice with two important meets ahead: the NESCAC Championship on November 1 and the Division III New England Regional Championship on November 15.
At both these meets, the Bears face a number of very strong teams, some of whom finished in the top five at the NCAA Division III National Championship last year. With the competition heating up, the women will need to be ready to go out in hard, even with the course distances moving up to 6K.
Now that the Bowdoin women have raced against some of their toughest competitors, they are more confident and prepared to take on other NESCAC teams.
Edging out Bates at the State meet bodes well for the NESCAC Championship.
Also, vital to the race were Lindsey Schickner '09 in 17th, Anna Ackerman '12 in 18th, and Grace Kerr '11 in 25th.
Rounding out the team's top seven was Chantal Croteau '12 in 32nd, whose knee injuries sidelined her for Open New England's, but whose promising talent will be essential to the women's squad in upcoming championship meets.
With a little more experience under their belts, the Bears feel good about the position that the State meet left them in.
"Last week [at Open New England's], I felt like something was missing after I finished," said Argueta as she cooled down after last Saturday's race. "That felt great, though. I know I gave it everything I had, and that I left it all on the course."