The men's track team traveled to Lewiston amid a downpour over the weekend to compete in the Maine State Meet. The Polar Bears amassed 175 points and were runner-up to Bates, who scored 251 points.
Bates' depth in the throws hurt the Polar Bears' chances for the team title, as they scored 97 of their points in that event. The Polar Bears picked up 43 points in the jumps alone; Sam Chick '13 won the state triple jump title with a leap of 43 feet and 9.75 inches and grabbed second in the long jump. Chris Martin '12 won the long jump title with a jump of 21 feet and six inches. In the pole vault, Alex Lucyk '12, Simon Ward '13 and Eddy Page '13 finished third and tied for fifth, respectively, due to misses with clearances of 13 feet 7.25 inches.
Mother Nature was not merciful last weekend, but the storm did not stop the track team in its run for the State Title. Shifting to the track, captain Stan Berkow '11 won the day's first track event, the 10,000 meters. Gregory Talpey '14 and Charles Berdahl '11 finished fourth and sixth, respectively. Berkow ran the 25-lapper in 32:48.83 and qualified for the NESCAC and D-III New England Championships.
"We were looking for the best places and not necessarily times," he said. "The weather did not stop the three of us from working together for the first half of the race and then trying our best to finish strong in the second half. It did make racing for 30 minutes slightly more unpleasant than usual, however."
Following the seniors' inspiring race, James Boeding '14 won the 3000-meter steeplechase in a time of 9:35.64. Having lowered his personal best, he has qualified for every championship meet except the NCAA meet. Sophomore sprinter David Bean galloped to victory in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.90 seconds. Taking a page out of Bean's playbook, Colin Fong '12 waited until the last 200 meters of his race to blow the doors off of the competitors and win the men's 800-meter state title. Three years ago, Fong took second and this past winter saw him place third in the 800-meter as well so this victory proved to be a little bit sweeter than the rest.
Though Bowdoin finished second, Berkow was very positive about Saturday's results.
"The competition at the state meet is fairly strong despite how small the meet is," Berkow said. "Bates is a powerhouse, particularly in the throwing events. Both Bates and Bowdoin usually finish in the top six at the New England division three meet which is a much larger meet, if that helps to give an idea of the competition at the state meet."
This weekend, the men's track Team will travel to Wesleyan for the NESCAC Championships and MIT the following weekend for the New England D-III Champs.