If at first you do not succeed, try, try again. During the past seven seasons, no matter how hard the Bowdoin men's track and field team tried, their valiant efforts at the Maine State Championship were simply not enough to prevent the same disappointing result from occurring year after year: a close second-place finish to archrival Bates.
The Polar Bears finally got over the hump last Saturday and snapped Bates' streak of seven straight outdoor state championships by winning their first Maine State Championship since 2001.
At the Russell Street Track at Bates the Polar Bears scored 230 points and in doing so, ran past the Bobcats, who scored 206. The University of Southern Maine finished third with 142 points and Colby was fourth with 36. For many on the team, they feel that they not only won an important title, but also brushed a big chip off their shoulders.
"We feel so relieved," said Thompson Ogilvie '10. "For the past couple of years, we came so close, but ended up losing by two or three points."
"It feels great, more so for the seniors since they came close so many times," said first-year Riker Wikoff, reiterating the same sense of relief. "Most of the satisfaction from the meet came from the fact we could pull through for them."
Ogilvie and Wikoff each contributed to the Bowdoin victory with wins in the 800-meter run and the 400-meter hurdles, respectively. The Polar Bears also received event wins from Chris Martin '12 in the high jump and Nick Ianetta '11 in the javelin throw.
Easily the most remarkable performance of the day came from senior captain Damon Hall-Jones '09, who scored 27.5 points and made history by becoming the first athlete in the 114 years of the state meet to score in three running events and two throwing events.
This type of athletic depth proved to be a key factor during the tightly contested meet. Although the Polar Bears had only four first-place finishes on the day, it was the only team to score in every event. The quartet of Ianetta, Kyle Hebert '10, Mason Moss '12, and Hall-Jones were the best representation of Bowdoin's athletic versatility in the javelin throw, finishing in spots one through four.
"It was a close meet all day, and then the javelin throwers gave us a strong lead that we were able to hold for the rest of the meet," said Coach Peter Slovenski about his throwers' impressive feat.
However, as several runners noted, Bowdoin's team depth did not only have a major impact on its victory on the track and on the field, but also on the sidelines. Although track consists of individual events, the raucous support that the Polar Bears gave each other throughout the meet proved that it is very much a team sport as well.
"I didn't care how fast I was running, and in the end, the race didn't hurt as much it could have because there was so much excitement and energy coming to me from all my teammates cheering," said Scot McFarlane '09, describing the atmosphere during his second-place finish in the 5000-meter run that clinched the state title for Bowdoin. "For me, having a chance to contribute to our victory was definitely one of the best feelings of my life."
Having conquered the track and the field in Maine, the Polar Bears will have the chance to prove their prowess with the rest of New England watching at this Saturday's NESCAC Championship. Riding the momentum from the state championship, Bowdoin is confident that they can produce equally successful results at this larger meet with stronger competition.
"It will be a tough meet. NESCAC schools are tough competitors," said Ogilvie. "But this win over Bates has given us a lot of confidence. We're going to carry this momentum into the NESCAC championships and try to grab a top-four finish."
The men's track and field team will travel to Connecticut College to compete at the NESCAC Championship this Saturday.