The cruelty of April was clearly in full force on Saturday, as the women's outdoor track team woke up to brutal weather conditions on the day of the Aloha Relays, its only home meet of the season. Living up to the spirit of their mascot, the Polar Bears perservered through the inclement weather and tied Bates, sharing the Aloha Relays crown.
"We woke up to snow and competed in freezing rain," said sophomore Elsa Millett. "But nothing, not even the Colby girls who stole our warm locker room, could kill our Bowdoin spirit."
The Bowdoin women performed admirably in the unfavorable conditions and were able to summon many strong individual performances.
In addition, the Polar Bears were boosted by the return of Emily Barr '12, who won the 100-meter dash in a time of 13.25 seconds.
"It was so good to get Emily back in the lineup," said Head Coach Peter Slovenski. "She adds a lot of speed and poise to our team."
Sophomore runners Laura Peterson and Millett continued in fine form, each capturing first place in two separate events.
Peterson won the long jump and the triple jump, while Millett won the 200-meter dash and the 400-meter dash.
Junior Christina Argueta proved to be a strong performer in the 5000-meter run.
"Argueta posted a season PR in the 5K—she ran a really smart race and really dug deep to finish with some speed," said senior co-captain Dana Riker. "My guess is that she'll keep dropping time over the next few weeks and will have some really impressive races."
Other winners in the distance races included senior Lindsay Hodge in the steeplechase and first year Molly Porcher in the 10,000-meter run.
Riker also applauded the efforts of sophomore Annie Huyler, who captured first place in the women's heptathlon, an event which comprises of the 100-meter hurdles, the shot put, the high jump, the long jump, the 200-meter dash, the javelin throw and the 800-meter run.
The Polar Bears and the Bates Bobcats were neck-and-neck for the entire day, and even after all the events were counted, no points separated the two teams.
"The meet was a true team effort, getting big firsts, and scraping of fifth and sixth places for points to end up tying Bates for first place," said senior co-captain Sarah Lord.
Slovenski said he was proud of his team's effort in the poor weather conditions.
"The team had a terrific attitude," he said. "We showed a lot of mental toughness and determination throughout the lineup."
Riker said she hopes that the Polar Bears can continue their fine form into the NESCAC Championships, which take place at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts this weekend.
"This coming weekend, the team will be looking for a top four finish," Riker said. "This is where we start to see some big competition with Williams, Middlebury, Amherst and all the other NESCAC schools, and I think people are ready to get right in there and compete with the best of them."