The temperatures were in the eighties at Middlebury College last Saturday as the Bowdoin women's outdoor track team opened its season by taking third place at the Middlebury Invitational.
The Polar Bears were led by two strong performances, one in the track events and one in the field events.
On the track, Bowdoin was led by a strong performance from sophomore Elsa Millett, who won the 400-meter dash in a time of 58.12 seconds.
Millett was also honored as the NESCAC track athlete of the week for her performance.
Head Coach Peter Slovenski applauded Millett's poise in her race.
"Elsa ran a very smart race," said Slovenski. "She had to go out fast to stay within a few meters of the leaders, but she also had to stay relaxed and save enough for a fast finish."
In the field events, the Polar Bears were led by a strong performance from junior pole vaulter Chris Head.
Her vault of 3.11 meters was enough to edge her own school record set last spring.
"Chris was aggressive in the way she selected which poles to jump on," Slovenski said, "and then she came through with a clutch jump at 10-3. Her speed and drive transferred to a high swing that got her over a school record."
Senior captain Dana Riker commented that Head is "an athlete to watch this season" and that "she has worked really hard for the past several months and it is clearly paying off."
Michelle Kaufman also won the 100-meter hurdles, and the Polar Bears scored four out of the top eight in the long jump.
"Overall, the Middlebury meet was a solid start for our team," Riker said. "We got a few solid races, jumps and throws under our belts on the outdoor track, we remembered what it felt like to compete outdoors with heat and wind and other factors as opposed to a controlled indoor environment, and gave ourselves a good starting point facing the remainder of the season."
This weekend, the Polar Bears will face strong D-I competition at the University of New Hampshire.
In addition to providing good experience, Lord believes that this weekend's meet at the University of New Hampshire will "be an opportunity to qualify for the NESCAC Championships and for the Division III New England Championships."