At the Maine State Meet last Saturday, the men’s track and field team came up short in its quest to defend its 2012 title at the University of Southern Maine. Bates finished in first with 207 points while the Polar Bears tallied just 139.

“Going into the meet we were considered the underdogs, and while we met that expectation, we didn’t really reach our goal of winning,” said captain David Bean ’13.

“Our goal from Day One was to beat Bates, even though they were seeded above us,” added fellow captain Matt Gamache ’13.

Despite this, Bowdoin had a number of impressive individual performances during the meet. Coby Horowitz ’14 won both the 1,000-meter run and the mile. Sam Seekins ’14 took first in the 5,000-meter run, shattering both the Bowdoin and meet records with a time of 14:45.00.

Other notable performers included Kyle Leblanc ’14, who took second in the 55-meter dash, captain Sam Chick ’13, who ran 1:22:97 to seize second in the 600-meter, and Eddy Page ’13, who cleared 4.15 meters to place second in the pole vault.

Although Bean and Gamache said they were disappointed with the meet’s outcome, they were impressed by the individual results as well as the enthusiasm the team displayed throughout the long competition.

“Our team had a great attitude going into the meet,” said Gamache. “The energy was there, the team atmosphere was there, but things just didn’t come together as we had hoped.”
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The Polar Bears had been looking forward to their next meet, at Boston University on Saturday, but it was cancelled due to the threat of  inclement weather. The team will next compete at the New England D-III Championships on February 16 at Bates.