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Supported by a campus community that boasts a vaccination rate of 99% and guidance from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Bowdoin’s athletic department is preparing to return to an unabbreviated schedule of competition for the first time since the fall of 2019.
SHARPEN YOUR PENCILS At the third Bowdoin-Colby-Bates track and field meet this past weekend, two school records fell as the men’s and women’s teams closed out their non-scoring season. On the men’s side, Ajay Olson ’23 earned a new school record in the 100 meter dash (10.69 seconds), and he just barely missed the school’s 45-year-old 200 meter dash record (21.42 seconds) by 0.2 seconds.
SWEPT OFF After the Polar Bears split their games last weekend, they were swept by Trinity this past weekend, losing 9-8 in the first game and 9-6 in the second game. Despite the losses, they did see some standout performances.
For the first time in over a year, Bowdoin’s track and field teams put on their uniforms for a dual meet with Colby College last Sunday. Although the meet was smaller than usual, a few athletes achieved personal records, and almost all expressed gratitude to be competing again.
“There are a lot of ways to do track and field, and I like to think ours is a good way: for camaraderie, fun, education and good results. I do the best I can based on what I remember as an athlete and the feedback I get from Bowdoin students I trust,” Associate Director of Athletics for Facilities and Assistant Coach of track and field Lynn Ruddy once wrote in an email to her former athlete Louis Duffus-Artman ’07.
Through budget freezes and cuts, Bowdoin athletics remained a dominant force on campus during the 1990s. However, a social divide still existed on campus. Bowdoin athletics kicked off the decade with a bang. On September 28, 1990, “Football edges Middlebury” appeared in big bold letters in the Orient after a recent nail-biting win.
Following the retirement of longtime men’s track and field Head Coach Peter Slovenski, the athletic department announced on March 31 that Lara-Jane (LJ) Que, Head Coach of the women’s track and field program, will be stepping into the role of Head Coach for the men’s program as well this June.
Catching many athletes off guard, yet pleasantly surprised, President Clayton Rose announced in a campus-wide email on March 9 that the NESCAC has decided to conduct limited competition for spring sports. While many athletes and athletics staff members are excited for this opportunity, they know that competition is not guaranteed and is dependent on the rate of COVID-19 cases on Bowdoin’s campus and at other colleges.
Last weekend, the men’s and women’s track and field teams both found themselves in limbo. For the first time in program history, both teams finished in first-place ties at the Maine State Championship meets on Saturday night,.
After a 2019 season in which the men’s and women’s track and field teams finished sixth and third, respectively, at NESCAC Championships, both teams have started the 2020 season with a bang. The women’s team jumped out to a fantastic start, coasting to two emphatic first-place finishes under the guidance of new head coach Lara-Jane Que.
After an indoor season riddled with injuries, the track and field teams found their momentum last weekend in the Silfen Invitational at Connecticut College. The men’s team placed fourth out of 24 teams, while the women’s team came in an impressive second out of 20 teams.
Last weekend, the women’s and men’s indoor track and field teams competed in the New England Division III Championships, placing fifth out of 31 teams and sixteenth out of 23 teams, respectively. Captain Julia O’Rourke ’19 broke the program record in the 5000-meter run while Morgen Gallagher ’20 set a new 60-meter sprint record.
The women’s indoor track and field team started the season strong, earning first and second place in its first two past home invitationals, respectively. On January 12, the Polar Bears scored 176 points, far surpassing WPI (146) in second place.
Both the men’s and women’s track teams dominated their meets last weekend, with the men’s team winning its second straight State Championship and the women’s team winning the 30th annual Aloha Relays by almost 100 points over second-place Bates.
Ten track and field athletes spent the beginning of their spring break in Birmingham, Alabama to compete in the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships last month, where the team received a first place finish in the women’s distance medley relay.
The men’s and women’s track and field teams have performed well in the recent weeks, with both teams coming in first overall in this past weekend’s Bowdoin Invitational III and bringing an impressive showing at the BU John Thomas Terrier Classic.
Tournament time. The women’s tennis team (13-4, 5-3 NESCAC) is seeded fifth heading into the first round of NESCAC playoffs this weekend where it will face No. 2 Wesleyan (11-3, 5-3 NESCAC). The Polar Bears hope to build off their recent success—an 8-1 win over Babson (10-8) and a 9-0 shutout over MIT (12-8) last weekend—as they go up against a strong Cardinal squad.
This weekend, Bowdoin will host the NESCAC Track and Field Championships for the first time since 2006. The women’s and men’s track teams are coming off of first-place finishes in their last two respective meets and will look to extend their success through this weekend.
Turning the tide. The baseball team (11-12, 3-3 NESCAC) is currently on a five-game win streak after sweeping its weekend series against Trinity (13-12, 3-6 NESCAC) and beating Thomas (3-25) 11-4 on Monday. Brandon Lopez ’20 was named NESCAC Pitcher of the Week this week after tossing a full game against Trinity last Friday.
Last weekend, the women’s and men’s track and field teams hosted a home invitational against seven other schools, with the men’s team taking first and the women’s taking second overall. The men’s team easily earned first place with 158 points over second-place University of Maine Farmington, while the women’s team fell to the University of Southern Maine by a narrow 20 points.
