After spending a cold and stormy winter competing inside field houses, the men's track and field team is excited to get outside and embrace the warm weather. Coming off a terrific winter season in which they captured another state title and finished top-five in New England, the Polar Bears are feeling good about themselves going into the spring.
Starting with a meet at the University of New Hampshire (UNH) this Saturday, followed by the Maine State Championship and NESCAC Championship, Bowdoin is entering the most important phase of the season. At UNH, they will face a tough field that will include numerous Division I opponents. Even so, the men's track team sees Saturday's meet as fine preparation for the upcoming championships.
"This weekend will be a great meet to help us iron any wrinkles in preparation for the bigger meets down the road," said Kyle Hebert '10.
"UNH is important—it's a big meet in terms of setting the tone for the championship season," said senior tri-captain Luke Fairbanks. "Like Princeton, the competition should be tough and should bring out the best in our guys."
After competing at the Princeton Invitational this past weekend, in which it was the only Division III school present, Bowdoin knows it should not feel intimidated by equally difficult opponents at UNH.
"Overall, I thought the Princeton meet went well. It was a tough meet in terms of conditions and competition, but we had some very good performances across the board," said Fairbanks. "Much of the team hadn't competed since indoor, and with a week off between break and this past weekend, I think a lot of the guys were eager to get out there and race against some high-level competition."
First year Chris Martin gave the most notable performance from the field with a jump of 2 meters, which earned him second-place in the high jump.
"Chris Martin had a fantastic day," said Coach Peter Slovenski. "He has a great mind for competition and knows how to get more out of himself even after he's given everything."
Martin also contributed on the track as he, along with the rest of the relay squad of Damon Hall-Jones '09, Zach Winters '11, and Hebert, finished second overall in the 4x100-meter race.
Other notable performances at Princeton included a fifth-place finish by Fairbanks in the shot put, a fourth-place finish by Hall-Jones in the 100-meter dash, and a sixth-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles by Riker Wikoff '12.
With the strong showing at Princeton, the men's track team has reason to feel confident going into the UNH meet.
"We have a lot of guys who are on the verge of competitive breakthroughs," Slovenski said. "When the weather is right, or the team scoring is important, we have many athletes who are ready to rise up for outstanding performances."