The women's track and field team arrived at Farley Field House last Saturday for a meet against MIT and Colby with last year's Division III New England Regional Championship, where Bowdoin took seventh place and MIT took third, resting in the back of the Bears' minds.
Bowdoin has its sights set on a top three finish at the 2009 D-III New England Championship this year, and competing against MIT gave the women an opportunity to gauge the season's direction.
Given that Bowdoin took first in the meet with 173.5 points to MIT's 149 and Colby's 73.5, the results bode well.
Highlighting the day were two broken school records. Elsa Millet '12 broke her own 200-meter dash record with a 26.32 second finish, .16 seconds faster than her previous record. In the 3,000-meter run, Annie Monjar '09 broke a record set in 2004 with a time of 10:01.
"It was remarkable to break two school records in a January meet," said Slovenski. "We usually break school records later in the season on the banked tracks in Boston."
"I was excited to win against MIT, I think it is incredible that we were able to win by so much," said captain Alison Pilon '09. "We have such a strong team this year and I get more and more pumped as the season goes and I see more and more successes."
Prepared for a neck and neck battle with MIT for first place, the Polar Bears competed relentlessly on the track as well as in the jumps and throws, with several breakthrough performances.
Even as the Engineers picked up first place finishes throughout the day, Bowdoin earned more points with multiple scorers in several events, including the 600-meter dash, where Bowdoin took second through sixth places, as well as the triple jump, where first through fourth place finishes gave the Bears 19 points, making it the high-scoring event of the day.
"MIT earned many of [its] points with first place finishes," said Molly Duffy '11, "but Bowdoin has a lot of depth this year that helped us earn many second, third, fourth and fifth place finishes."
The women enjoyed several personal records, as well, including Gina Lonati '12, who had a personal best in the weight throw as well as a fifth-place finish in the 55-meter dash. Shemeica Binns '09, who took first in the shot put, also threw a personal best of 40' 6.75".
The return of sprinting talents Erin York '09, who had been sidelined with an ACL injury, and Alexa Staley '11, whose foot injury has kept her out of competition, also contributed to Saturday's victory. York took fifth in the 200-meter dash, while Staley earned fourth in the 55-meter hurdles.
"Getting Erin York back from her knee injury is a big boost for our lineup," said Coach Peter Slovenski. "She's an outstanding competitor and has a great mind for racing."
"Alexa has been experimenting with different ways of racing because of a foot injury," Slovenski said. "The hurdles are a very difficult race, but it looks as though she is starting to get back into the fast rhythm she had last year when she was an All-New England hurdler."
But before the Bears take on the championship meets such as Boston University's Valentine's Day Invitational on February 13 and 14, they will attempt to take the state title tonight at Bates. Last year, the Bears took third place, behind USM and Bates.
This year, however, Bowdoin is feeling confident.
"We have lots of momentum going into the State meet from a big win against MIT," said Dana Riker '10, "and the team is both physically and mentally prepared to leave it all on the track Friday night. It's going to be a great battle with Bates, Colby, and USM, but I have so much confidence in what this team can do."