FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BATES SENDS FIVE TO NCAA TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS

LEWISTON, Maine -- Five Bates College seniors will represent the Bobcats on Friday and Saturday, March 11-12, at the NCAA Division III men's and women's indoor track and field championships held at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Ill.

Leading the way for the Bobcats' men's team is senior 35-pound weight thrower Lucas Adams of Nottingham, N.H. Adams is a two-time All-American in the weight throw, having placed sixth in the nation in 1998 and third in 1999. The top seed, Adams produced the best throw in NCAA Division III this year with his school-record throw of 64 feet, two inches Feb. 5, the best in the nation by four feet. That throw would set an NCAA Division III record if matched at the championship meet. Adams is one of only two Division III throwers this season to reach the 60-foot mark.

Adams has won the 35-pound weight in seven of Bates' nine scoring meets this season. His victories include the New England Division III meet (61 1.75), held at Bates' Slovenski Indoor Track Feb. 19, and the ECAC Division III championship (57-10.75) at Wheaton College on March 4.

He placed second (61-7) at the Open New England Championships Feb. 26 at Boston University, helping the Bobcats to an 11th place finish among 31 teams from NCAA Divisions I, II and III.

Adams has picked up a victory in the shotput on three occasions. He is also an All-American and school-record holder (192-5.5) in the hammer throw during the outdoor track and field season. Adams was also named an All-NESCAC selection as an offensive lineman for the Bates football team in the fall.

Joining Adams in the 35-pound weight throw at the NCAA championships is senior Rob Davis of Rehoboth, Mass. Davis enters the national championships ranked ninth in the country. His best throw of the season came at Open New Englands, where he was named All-New England, finishing in seventh place with a throw of 55 feet, 6.25 inches. He also earned Division III All New England honors with a fourth-place finish at that meet (53-5.75). Davis qualified provisionally for the NCAAs last year, but was not accepted for the competition.

In the track events, the Bobcats have qualified two runners for their second NCAA indoor championships. Mike Danahy of So. Windsor, Conn., is ranked fifth in the nation in the 5,000-meter run with a season-best time of 14.39.85, run at the Open New England Championships. He won the event, becoming just the second Bates athlete in history to post a victory at the All-Division meet, joining William Tyler '79, who won the 800-meter run. Danahy also won the New England Division III championship in the 5,000.

Danahy is a three-time All-American, placing third in the 5,000 at the indoor championships in 1999, fifth in the 10,000-meter run at the 1999 outdoor track championships, and ninth overall at the NCAA Division III cross country championships this past fall. He was named New England Cross Country Runner of the Year at that meet.

Matt Twiest of Albuquerque, N.M., is ranked seventh in the nation in the 1,500-meter run (3:53.89), qualifying automatically for the NCAAs with his fourth-place finish at the ECACs. Twiest is the State of Maine champion in the mile run (4:15.18). He earned All-New England honors with a second-place finish at the New England Division III championships.

Twiest is one of five Bates athletes who has been named an All-American four times, achieving the feat three times in cross country and once in indoor track when he finished sixth in the 1,500 in 1998. With a top-six finish at Illinois Wesleyan, Twiest would join John Fitzgerald '87 as the only five-time All-Americans in school history.

Representing the women at the championships is senior captain Erika Bristol of Pittsfield, Mass., who will compete in the 20-pound weight throw. Bristol earned an automatic berth at the NCAAs with her March 4 performance at the ECACs. Bristol shattered her own school record in the weight throw by more than two feet with a heave of 52 feet, 7.25 inches. It was Bristol's second championship in three weeks. She won the New England Division III weight throw Feb. 19 at Bowdoin College with a toss of 50-4.75. Ranked fourth in the nation, Bristol will attempt to become Bates' first woman to win All-America honors in an indoor field event since 1989.

Click here for the NCAA Division III Track and Field Championships Website, hosted by Illinois Wesleyan