Seeking strong individual performances to qualify them for later meets, the Polar Bears competed last weekend at the Boston University Valentine's day meet, a fast meet against Division I competition.
"It's always fun to compete on their banked track," said senior captain Dana Riker, "and it usually produces some fast times."
The standout performance was junior pole-vaulter Christine Head. Her 3.20 meter vault tied her personal best performance. This mark qualifies Head for the ECAC Championships in early March.
Head Coach Peter Slovenski applauded Chris Head's performance.
"Chris is a clutch performer in the big meets," he said. "She was fearless, and attacked the takeoff on every jump. It was great to have a Bowdoin athlete finish in the top ten in a meet with thirty universities from Division I."
Strong performances in the distances included Lindsay Hodge '10, who ran a 5:14 mile and completed the 1000-meter run in 3 minutes, 8 seconds.
Riker completed the 800-meter run in 2:22, while Christina Argueta '11, was Bowdoin's top finisher in the 3000-meter run, with a time of 10:32.
In the sprints, Emily Barr '12 posted a time of 26.67 in the 200-meter dash while Grace Kerr '11 completed the 500-meter dash in a time of 1:20.
In the field events, Laura Peterson '12 had a strong showing, long jumping 5.32 meters and triple jumping 10.60 meters.
This weekend, the Polar Bears hope to build upon the individual successes of last weekend with a strong team effort. Bowdoin will look to place among the top small schools in New England at the New England Division III Championships.
Slovenski thinks that the pentathlon will be a key event for the Polar Bears.
"Annie Huyler is a key athlete for our team," he said. "When she has a good day, it helps lift the entire team. The pentathlon will be an important opening event for Bowdoin."
Riker believes that the Bowdoin women can rise to the occasion against strong competition.
"We traditionally finish pretty well at this meet and hang right in there with strong programs such as MIT, Tufts, Amherst and Williams," she said.
Slovenski said that, despite the strong competition, the Bowdoin women have both the talent and the drive to succeed at the meet.
"This is a highly competitive meet with 25 colleges," he said. "Our goal is to finish among the top five teams, and we can do it if we get season's best performances from 10 or 12 athletes."