Facing some of the best men's track teams in the state, the men's track team proved themselves during last Saturday's Maine Indoor Championship at Bates.
"The State of Maine Championship is always extremely competitive amongst the Maine colleges," said junior distance runner Thompson Ogilvie. "It was a big win as well as a huge confidence booster for our team."
The Polar Bears ran away with the state championship by posting a team score of 208.5 over the University of Southern Maine (162), Bates (132.5), and Colby (18). For both the coaches and the athletes alike, this victory was a culmination of four months of hard work.
"We spent the entire season gearing up for this meet," said senior tri-captain Mike Krohn. "We had 10 men score over 10 points for the team. That really pays homage to the track program and coaches at Bowdoin to develop athletes that can perform at that level at a very competitive level."
Several Bowdoin runners earned State Championship honors, including Krohn in the 55-meter hurdles (8.01), Kyle Hebert '10 in the 200-meter dash (23.17), and Zach Winters '11 in the 400-meter race (51.74). First year Brett Stein claimed the 800-meter run with a time of 1:58.30, while the team of Riker Wikoff '12, Benjamin Cedars '11, Brian Huynh '12, and Alex Jeanty '11 ran a 3:28.60 to win the 4 x 400-meter relay.
Luke Fairbanks '09 led the way in the field events with his dominant victory in shot put, which he won by 1.85 meters, and his second-place finish in the weight throw. For his performance, the senior tri-captain won the Peter Goodrich Trophy for the most outstanding field event performer.
Bowdoin jumpers had another impressive day as Chris Martin '12 won the high jump with a season best 1.96-meter jump. Stephen Gonzalez '09, Colin Hay '10, Tim Fuderich '10, and Alex Lucyk '12 provided additional points by scoring in the pole vault, long jump, and triple jump.
Amongst all of the remarkable performances of the day, Coach Peter Slovenski noted that those of the seniors were particularly praiseworthy.
"The seniors won three of four indoor state meets during their careers," said Slovenki. "That's one of the best records of any class in the history of Bowdoin track. I can't remember a class that had as many clutch state meet performers as the Class of 2009. The seniors set personal bests, improved their seed position, scored 70 points, and provided inspired leadership to the team. It was a great team effort, but the seniors were the most valuable performers."
Being Maine state champions is yet another reason why Bowdoin should be happy with the tremendous success it has had this season. However, the Polar Bears are still hungry for more and are determined to capture an even greater prize.
"As a team, we still have important goals for the rest of the year," said senior tri-captain Damon Hall-Jones. "The New England Division-III championship meet is right around the corner, and we've also got our eyes on an outdoor state meet championship."
Bowdoin will travel to Boston University to compete in the Valentine's Day Classic this Saturday.