The women’s track and field team captured its fifth-consecutive Maine State Meet victory last Friday.

The Polar Bears accumulated 203.6 points, enough to handily top Bates (185.6), Colby (183.8), Southern Maine (110), St. Joseph’s (15), and Husson (3).

In the sprints, Samantha Copland ’14 broke her own school record in the 60-meter dash (8.06), while captain Michele Kaufman ’13 won the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 9.20.

In the field events, Erin Silva ’15 won the pole vault (3.38m) and Katherine Krupp ’16 took the triple jump (10.72m).

The Bowdoin throwers continued their streak of recent successes as Randi London ’15 won the shot put (11.78m) and Katherine Harmon ’14 won the weight throw (14.17m). Harmon also entered into the triple jump for the first time, and placed fifth.  

The Polar Bears implemented their pre-meet strategy of entering individuals in three or four events rather than the customary one or two.

“It’s definitely a strategic meet,” said Silva. “We go for the win in this one; it’s about school pride and being the best in Maine.”

Considering that Harmon usually just throws, Silva said she found her triple jump finish especially impressive.  

“I feel like that’s what the state meet is all about: doing several events, trying events you never do, and scoring a few points,” said Silva.

Because the meet can come down to a small difference in points, Silva said that everyone does their best to step up, even if they are just scoring one point, to ensure the victory. 
According to Silva, this team-first mentality helped her keep her own pole vault performance in perspective. Despite her victory, Silva’s final height was her second-lowest of the season.
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This weekend the Polar Bears were planning to shift focus from the team victory to the more individually oriented Valentine’s Invitational at Boston University, but it was cancelled due to the threat of inclement weather. The team’s next event is the D-III Championship at the University of Southern Maine on February 16.