Lucy Skinner ’16 and Coby Horowitz ’14 became the first pair of runners from the same school to win the Maine State Championship since 2001 last Saturday.
Women
The women’s cross country team finished third behind Bates and Colby, but Skinner took the meet’s individual title.
Skinner became one of nine Bowdoin women to have won the event. She ran with the lead pack for the first mile, but opened up a five-meter lead quickly into the second. Skinner controlled the rest of the race, finishing with a substantial winning margin of 40 meters and solidifying the title with a 12-second lead and a final time of 19:00:80.
“Lucy has great intuition for pacing,” said Coach Peter Slovenski. “She was relaxed in the first mile, and then knew she could accelerate in the second mile.”
The Bowdoin women had seven runners finish in the top 29, including captain Madelena Rizzo ’14 and Brenna Fischer ’15, who finished seventh and 23rd, respectively.
The women raced against some of the strongest runners in D-III cross-country programs in the nation, including No. 22 Bates and No. 33 Colby.
While the Colby course is commonly considered to be the most difficult in Maine because of its hilly terrain, Skinner said the hills helped her to pace throughout the race. Slovenski emphasized his confidence in Skinner because she had proven to be a strong hill runner.
The team was aware of the difficulty of the Colby course and participated in a practice run there a few weeks ago.
“Mayflower Hill is the biggest hill found on any college cross-country course in New England. A lot of colleges prefer to create flat courses, but we were really looking forward to having a race on such a difficult course,” said Slovenski. “The course has so many varied and hilly sections that it’s like a runner’s Odyssey.”
Men
After two years without the title, the men’s team reclaimed the Maine State Championship at Colby last Saturday. Horowitz, the captain, placed first overall.
This was the first time Horowitz had raced the course. He ran an even race with the top runner from Bates and the top two runners from Colby, until he steadily pulled away up the hill of the last mile. This was his third state championship, after also winning it in 2010 and 2011. He finished with a time of 26:02:20.
The 2012 winner Sam Seekins ’14 and Horowitz have together helped Bowdoin claim the individual championship in each of the past four years. The men lost the team championship by one point last year, and Horowitz emphasized his enthusiasm in taking back the title his senior year.
“Although it’s not a super important race in the grand scheme of things, it is good to win and prove that we can still race,” said Horowitz.
Seekins, Greg Talpey ’14, Kevin Hoose ’15, and Nick Saba ’14 all finished in the top 13. The Polar Bears finished with a total of 41 points, beating Colby and Bates, who totaled 46 and 47 points, respectively. The men’s team is currently ranked No. 13 in the country.
The Polar Bears will run at the NESCAC championship on November 2.