Men's Cross Country Climbs to Third in Region; Fereshetian Named New England Coach of the Year; Myrick Earns All-America Honors

Thanks to an outstanding first-year class and continued excellence from his returnees, men's cross country coach Al Fereshetian was named New England Coach of the Year. Led by the All-New England trio of junior co-captain Justin Freeman (Enfield, N.H.) and first-year harriers Matt Twiest (Albuquerque, N.M.) and Mike Danahy (South Windsor, Conn.), the Bobcats won their first State of Maine championship in four years. They improved to fourth at the NESCAC championships, up from ninth the year before, with both Twiest and Freeman earning All-Conference honors. Two weeks after that, Bates finished in a tie for third at the NCAA regional meet, just missing qualifying for the NCAA championships. Twiest, who won two races in his first year of collegiate competition, qualified for nationals as an individual, where he placed 43rd overall and finished first among first-year runners. The Bobcats ended the season ranked 25th in the country, having reached as high as 20th nationally and third regionally.

With three runners from last year's NCAA Championships studying abroad, Carolyn Court's women's squad dropped off somewhat as a team, but received outstanding individual performances from the returning members they did have. Sophomore Adelia Myrick (Kodiak, Alaska) and junior Abigail Phelps (Chester, N.H.) each earned All-State, -Conference and -New England honors and qualified for the NCAA championship meet, with Myrick finishing 15th overall to become the fourth All American in Bates women's cross country history.

Field Hockey (6-8) Rebounds Nicely After Slow Start

After starting out 2-6 and being shut out four times, Stacey Watts' young field hockey team rebounded to win four of their last six games. With just five upperclassmen on the roster, the Bobcats picked up a 2-0 win over Colby, their first since 1992, and then defeated ECAC qualifier Southern Maine, 2-1, in overtime. All four goals in those games were either scored or assisted by the team's leading scorer (3 goals, 5 assists, 11 points), sophomore Amanda Schall (Chevy Chase, Md.). Sophomore Wendy Zimmerman (Denver, Colo.) made 16 saves in the Colby game, two short of her career high. Junior Jessica Klein (Montpelier, Vt.) led the team with five goals on the season.

Football (0-8) Plagued by Injuries; Linebackers Decorated in Postseason

With top junior tailback P.J. McGrail (Westwood, Mass.) able to play sparingly in just five of eight games, plus a pair of talented first-year receivers injured at wide out, the Bobcats were close in most of their games, but victorious in none. The most notable effort came against Colby in the sixth game of the season. Both teams entered the game winless, and the Bobcats had a pair of two-touchdown leads at 14-0 and 21-7. The White Mules rallied, scoring three fourth-quarter touchdowns to win 28-21 in front of a stunned crowd at Bates' Garcelon Field. Bates did receive several notable individual performances. Senior quarterback Dan Hooley (Bristol, Conn.) became the school's all-time leader in passing yardage in the game against Colby, going ahead of Jim Murphy '69. Hooley finishes his career with 4,488 yards. First-year linebacker Frost Hubbard (East Walpole, Mass.) was named NESCAC Defensive Rookie of the Year, the third Bobcat in the last four years to earn a conference rookie of the year award. He twice earned NESCAC Rookie of the Week honors and the same award from the ECAC once. The Bobcats hope that Hubbard's career is as successful as Mike Holte (Marshfield, Mass.), the school's all-time leading tackler, who was named first team All-NESCAC after winning two Defensive Player of the Week awards from the conference, and named All-New England by the New England Football Writers and second team All-ECAC.

Golf Recaptures CBB Crown; Sargent Co-Medalist at NESCACs

Coach Bob Flynn's golf team won its fourth CBB crown in the last six years, taking the title on its home course at Springbrook Golf Course. After struggling in their first two tournaments, the Bobcats turned things around at the NESCAC championships. Junior captain Tim Sargent (Morrisville, Vt.) tied for medalist honors with a two-day score of 155, losing the first hole of the playoff. Classmate Simeon Werner (Minnetonka, Minn.) finished ninth at 163. As a team the Bobcats finished fourth overall, up from ninth a year ago. They tied for second at the Southern Maine Invitational, led by Sargent's third-place finish and junior Matt Delehanty's (Larchmont, N.Y.) fifth-place finish. At the CBB championships, Sargent once again tied for first and the Bobcats took home the title by three strokes over Bowdoin, 345-348.

Women's Soccer (13-3-1) Reaches NCAA Quarterfinals; O'Malley Rewrites Record Books

Coach Jim Murphy parlayed a terrific recruiting class and experienced seniors into one of the most successful seasons in any team sport in Bates history. After finishing the regular season 11-2-1, the women's soccer team qualified for the NCAA tournament and went on to win their first two games, 2-0, on the road at Bowdoin and Williams before bowing to Amherst in the quarterfinals. Leading the way for Bates was first-year forward Kate O'Malley (Deephaven, Minn.) who set school records for goals (18) and points (43) in a single season and for points in a game with three goals and two assists against St. Joseph's. For her efforts, O'Malley, a three-time NESCAC Player of the Week, was named a first team All-American by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA). Both O'Malley and sophomore Colleen McCrave (Walpole, Mass.) were named NSCAA first-team All-New England and senior co captain Nicole Woodson joined them on the All-State squad. Sophomore goalkeeper Suzy Arnold (Falmouth, Mass.), recorded an 0.60 goals-against average and took home one NESCAC Player of the Week award.

Men's Soccer (9-5-1) Earns ECAC Berth; Upset of Williams Highlights Regular Season

After starting the regular season 2-3, coach George Purgavie's team turned their year around on Oct. 5 when Williams came to town. The defending national champions saw their 46-game regular-season winning streak come to a halt when sophomore Eric Trickett (Windham, N.H.) scored 19 minutes into the second half and the Bates defense held on for a 2-1 victory. After dropping their next game, Bates ended the regular season with a seven-game unbeaten streak, including three straight shutouts by second team All-New England goalie Mike Marsh (Manchester, Conn.). That scoreless streak included 1-0 wins over Bowdoin and Colby, giving the Bobcats their first outright Colby-Bates-Bowdoin (CBB) title since 1989, and helped them earn their first postseason berth since 1992, where they lost a 1-0 decision to eventual tournament champs, Connecticut College. Senior sweeper Tom Murray (Marshfield, Mass.) was selected to the All-New England third team.

Women's Tennis (4-5) Has a Season of Streaks

The Bates womenÕs tennis team finished the season at 4-5 and a 16th-place finish at the New England WomenÕs Intercollegiate Division III Tennis Tournament (NEWITT) under the tutelage of first-year head coach John Illig. The team began the season with two losses to Middlebury, 8-1, and Colby-Sawyer, 5-4, but went on to win four straight over Southern Maine, 8-1, Plymouth State, 9-0, UMass-Lowell, 9-0, and Salve Regina, 6-3. Individually, the team was led by sophomore Lisa Gralnek (Palos Verdes, Calif.) at the number four seed. She led the team with seven wins at singles and 12 overall and advanced to the singles quarterfinals at NEWITT.

Volleyball (12-26) Struggles to Find Right Combinations

This year proved to be a difficult one for Marsha Graef's volleyball team, which failed to register at least 20 wins in the first time in Graef's 12-year tenure. Senior setter Tasha Hawthorne (Belton, Mo.) was named All-NESCAC for the second straight year. She was joined by co-captain outside hitter Sundra Durkis (Belmont, N.H.) on the All Conference team. The team's best tournament came at the State of Maine championships, where they finished fourth. They tied for sixth at the NESCAC tournament held at Hamilton College.

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