Yesterday's graduation ceremony officially marked the end of the Bates
Cross Country and Track & Field careers for the class of 2005. The class
included Joel Anderson, Scott Cooper, Matt Daly, Mike Downing, Dustin
Gauthier, Nic Hansen, David Hurley, Mitch Krauss, Elliot Linsley, Joe Northrup,
Adam Soule, Jake Wells-Bundtzen, and Pat "Ira" Wales-Dinan.
When Ira was called up near the end of the ceremony, Bates saw the
leave of one of the most successful classes in the College's Track & Field
history. Interestingly, each senior got only anywhere from 2 hours to a half
hour (Joel, Ira, et al) of sleep due to Midnight Madness festivities lasting
until dawn of graduation morning. And yes, someone did vomit during the
ceremony (NOT a member of the track team), which was fittingly held in Merrill
Gym on the indoor track due to inclement weather. After graduation some
of the seniors went to Gray Cage to enjoy dozens of Maine lobster rolls and
bid farewell to Todd Goewey; others spent some time walking around the Bates
campus with their families; and others went back to the Village 3 to catch up
on some sleep.
One of the many highlights of this past weekend was the return of
several Bates alumni: Justin Pagnotta '02, Jake White '03, Trent Lierman '04,
and Tim "The Beav" Miller '04. Their presence made a positive contribution to
the weekend as they educated the freshmen on matters of all things Bates, as
they recalled laughter shared with the '05 graduating seniors, and as they
directed various Bates Running traditions that are held during graduation
weekend.
Congratulations Class of 2005, thanks for a great year.
The Bates College 2005 Outdoor Track & Field season ended yesterday
with the conclusion of the NCAA Division III Championships hosted by Wartburg
College of Waverly, Iowa. Bates finished 52nd in the meet.
Senior Joe Northrup finished seventh in the decathlon, adding yet another
All-American title to his previous two (one in the 2004 Decathlon and another
in the 2005 Indoor Track 4 x 400m team).
Senior Joel Anderson ran his last race as a Bates runner in the 5000m
where he finished tenth in 14:56.54, just twenty seconds behind overall winner
Josh Moen of Wartburg in 14:36. Joel had an outstanding senior year - he
competed in NCAA Division III Nationals three times (XC, Indoor, Outdoor) and
won the Open New England Championships 5k during both the indoor and outdoor
seasons.
Senior Scott Cooper finished ninth in the hammer throw with a toss of
179'4" (54.66m). Although missing All-American honors by one place, Cooper
already earned All-American status when he competed at Nationals last season
in 2004. Yesterday's competition ended the reigns of one of the most
successful athletes in Bates history.
Also of special note - Kathryn "K-Moore" Moore from the Bates women's
team finished tenth in the 3000m steeplechase out of a field of nineteen.
K-Moore ran 11:20. Although she was about six seconds shy of her PR, finishing
tenth was a fantastic accomplishment for her, especially as a sophomore. Ira
is proud.
So all in all, another solid season for Bates Track & Field.
Tomorrow's graduation ceremony will see the leave of arguably the most
successful class ever in Bates Track & Field history. But no doubt many will
return for various reasons throughout the years. They will be missed but
remembered for their great contributions to the team and college.
As for the rest of the team. Saddle up for the 2005 Cross Country
season starting at the end of August and helmed by Captains Matt Biggart and
Little Dan Johnson!
Bates finished in sixth place out of forty-eight teams today at the
ECAC championships, which were hosted by Springfield College. A successful
second day at the meet boosted the Bobcats up eleven places from their
position at the end of yesterday's events.
Bates' relay teams performed very well in today's competition. Both
the 4 x 100m relay and 4 x 400m relay teams broke schools records. The 4 x 100
team finished second out of seventeen in 42:17, breaking their two week old
record of 42.26m, which they had set at the Division III Open New England
Championships. In addition, the 4 x 400 team finished third out of fifteen
with a time of 3:16.12, breaking the year old Bates record of 3:18.36.
In the 5000m, Dan Johnson finished fourth in a field of fourteen
runners. Little Dan posted a time of 15:17.73, and although it was not a PR,
the overall winner, Matt Liebal of Dickinson, ran 15:03, which Little Dan has
bettered this season. In the 110m hurdle finals, Adam Macbeth maintained his
position he earned in the trials - sixth place in 15.07.
The field event athletes also put up good performances. In the triple
jump, freshman Emmanuel Drabo finished eleventh out of twenty three with a
jump of 13.15m. Freshman Noah Gauthier was Bates' top finisher in the shot
put, throwing the shot 14.70 meters and earning ninth place out of twenty six
competitors. Those other competitors included Dustin Gauthier in twelfth place
(14.51m) and Scott Cooper (13.95). Cooper went on to finish third out of
seventeen in the hammer throw with a toss of 54.92m, less than three feet
behind overall winner Uzoma Orji of MIT. Noah Gauthier finished thirteen in
the event, throwing the hammer 48.38m. Freshman John Miley ended up in tenth
place in the decathlon with 5439 points.
This meet wrapped up the season for most Bates athletes. The NCAA
Division III Nationals meet will be held next weekend at Wartburg College in
Waverly, Iowa.
After the first day of the ECAC championships today, held at
Springfield College and after four events scored, Bates is currently sitting
in seventeenth place out of twenty three scoring teams.
Matt "Shelly" Daly placed sixth out of fifteen for the Bobcats in the
10,000m run with yet another PR of 32:28 - lopping another 28 second off his
prior best from the NESCAC meet three weeks ago. Shelly was only 1:28 behind
overall winner Nick End of Carnegie Mellon. In the prelims of the 110m
hurdles, Adam Macbeth was sixth out of twenty one. Macbeth recorded a time of
15.05, good enough to qualify for the finals tomorrow. Freshman John Miley is
currently in tenth place out of twelve competitors in the decathlon. Miley ran
11.92 for the 100m and 53.43 in the 400m, jumped 1.77m in the high jump and
5.89m in the long jump, and threw 10.67m in the shot put.
This is the third time this season that the Bobcats have competed at
Springfield - once at the Springfield Invitational in April, again at the
Division III New England Championships two weeks ago, and finally at today's
event. The meet will conclude tomorrow, and Bates will look to improve on
their current standing.
Bates finished in tenth place out of thirty six teams at the Open New
England Outdoor Championships yesterday, hosted by the University of New
Hampshire. Led by senior Joel Anderson's winning 10 points in the 5000m, the
Bobcats earned 23 points - two points and one place ahead of Middlebury who
finished third to Bates' fourth at the NESCAC meet two weeks ago. The
University of Rhode Island won the meet with 126 points, followed by Dartmouth
(119), and UConn (92).
The top story of the meet came from the 5000m. Joel Anderson ran
14:37.33 to beat William's Neal Holtschulte (14:37.90) by fifty-seven
hundredths of a second. Competing in a twenty three man field, Anderson ran
his fastest time outdoors in the 5k and beat top runners from elite running
schools like Dartmouth, Bentley, Boston College, and UConn. "Little Dan"
Johnson finished in an impressive tenth place in a lifetime best 15:02.57.
During his 5k, Little Dan PR'd in the 2 mile, going through the split in 9:35.
Little Dan will look forward to the ECAC meet next week when he will shoot to
break 15 minutes in the event.
Missing from the 10,000m was Matt "Shelly" Daly who, although
qualifying for the meet, did not compete so he could rest for ECACs next week.
Mike Downing finished fifteenth in a twenty four man field in the
3,000m steeplechase. Mike D ran 9:38, which is faster than he has run in over
two years in the event. Mike managed to pull ahead of fellow Mainer Mike
Bunker of USM who finished in 9:42.
The 4 x 400m relay team finished eighth out of eighteen in 3:19.82 - a
seasonal best. Scott Cooper competed in his last Open New England meet,
finishing second out of fifteen in the hammer throw with a toss of 182'03"
(55.54m).
Finally, the 4 x 800m relay team finished in 7:55.52, just three
seconds shy of the school record. The team consisted of Joel Anderson (1:57),
Pat "Ira" Wales-Dinan (1:59), Mike Downing (2:00), and Little Dan (1:57).
Despite having set their mind on breaking the school record, when one
considers that three-quarters of the team had already competed during the day,
their 7:55 is very impressive.
The Bobcats will travel to Springfield on Thursday for the third time
this season to compete in the ECAC Championships. Last year Bates finished in
a very strong second place out of fifty three teams when the meet was held at
Williams. The Bobcats will surely look to make their presence in the East
known again.
The Bobcats finished third out of twenty six teams at yesterday's New
England Division III Championships, held at Springfield College. Williams won
the meet with 167.50 points, followed by MIT with 99.50, Bates with 72.50,
Springfield with 54, and Tufts with 52. Last year Bates managed to finish
second, ahead of MIT, but this year "Tech" out-placed the 'Cats. Williams won
the meet for the thirteenth year out of the past fifteen after a fresh NESCAC
victory last week. Similar to the past three weeks of racing, the weather was
cold, rainy, and windy - most of the teams stayed on the buses throughout the
meet to stay warm. Rumor was that back in Lewiston it was snowing at the
women's championships....Certainly not how one typically envisions May 7.
While the majority of the team traveled to Springfield to compete on
Saturday, the decathlon was held on Thursday and Friday - an event in which
Joe Northrup finished first (and qualified for Nationals) and freshman John
Miley scored. So going into Saturday's competition Bates was leading the meet.
The performer of the meet, in the end, was Adam Macbeth. Ultimately Macbeth
broke three school records and qualified for Nationals. In the prelims of the
110m high hurdles, he broke his own school record of 14.93 by running 14.88,
and then breaking it once more in the finals when he finished third with 14.81
- good enough to qualify him provisionally for nationals. Macbeth was also
part of the school record breaking 4 x 100 meter relay team, consisting of
Macbeth, Northrup, Matt Capone, and Joel Colony. The team broke the old record
of 42.33 set in 2001 by running 42.26. In addition to Macbeth, Dustin Gauthier
finished third in the shot by throwing 50'11.5'', also qualifying him
provisionally for Nationals.
In the distance events, Matt "Shelly" Daly finished an outstanding
fifth in a competitive 10k in a near PR time of 32:59 in adverse conditions -
just 15 seconds behind the overall winner. Joel Anderson finished 6th in the
1500m in 3:59.69, a mere 5 seconds behind the overall winner Ian London from
Colby. Dan Johnson finished behind Joel in 4:04 after leading the pack through
800m in 2:04 in an effort to keep the pace honest. Nic Hansen wrapped up his
successful Bates career in the steeplechase earlier in the day. Finally, Mike
Downing ran 15:31 in the 5000m, finishing with an amazing kick in the final
100 meters. Mike D passed three runners in his sprint, moving him up from
tenth place to seventh (top eight score).
On a positive endnote, the meet ended with the running of the 4 x 400
meter relay. Sam "Mia" Murphy had come to the meet as an alternate firmly
believing he wouldn't be needed to run, so he ate a party size bag of lime
flavored tortilla chips (among other things) on the bus near his race. When it
soon became clear that he would have to race after all he rose to the
occasion and the rest of the distance crew tagged along to watch the spectacle
unfold. Joel Colony ran a 49 second first leg for Bates, giving the Bobcats
roughly a 2 second advantage. Mia took the baton next and maintained the lead
through the first 200. Where many 400 meter runners would "die" on the final
homestretch, Mia impressively surged and actually opened a large gap between
himself and the rest of the runners behind him. The relay team ultimately
finished seventh, but Mia's performance ended the meet on a high note and
reminded everyone in New England that "Mia" is a force to be reckoned with.
Bates will travel to the University of New Hampshire next weekend to
compete in the Open New England Meet. The meet will be fiercely competitive,
as some of the best teams in New England, regardless of division, will be
present. The Bobcats will look to improve on their tie for seventh place they
shared with Keene State at last year's competition.
The Bates Bobcats claimed fourth place with 103
points at the 2005 NESCAC championships, held at Colby College on Saturday.
Williams won the meet with 198.40 points, followed by Tufts (135.50), and
Middlebury (124). Although the 10,000m started out with Matt Daly, Matt
Dunlap, and Matt Biggart all racing under the hot sun, the majority of the
meet was held under persistent rain and cold weather in Waterville.
The Bobcats finished essentially as they were
seeded going into the meet, but they had expected to have more breakthrough
performances then they actually had on Saturday. The most notable performance
of the day came from "Little Dan" Johnson who finished third in the 5000m at
the end of the day, with a 25 second PR of 15:07. Staying behind Neal
Holtschulte of Williams for the majority of the race, Little Dan snuck into
first place with a half mile to go, only to get passed. Things did not look
good for Little Dan, but, repeating his surge at the end of his 3:58 1500 two
weeks ago, he kicked the last 100 meters as if it were a mile race rather than
three, and passed two impressive runners from Wesleyan and Tufts.
Mike Downing finished sixth in the 3000m
steeplechase in 9:43, a seasonal best, in a very stacked race. Uncle Shelly
finished the 10,000m with another huge PR by running 32:46, his first time
breaking the 33 minute barrier. Shelly has been smashing barriers and PRs for
the past couple weeks, so it will be interesting to see how he does in the
upcoming meets. Perhaps the biggest news for the Bobcats was that "Matty B"
Biggart completed his first 10,000m NESCAC race. Although ending with several
painful blood blisters, the whole team was very impressed with Biggart.
Bates will head to Springfield College in
Massachusetts next weekend for the New England Divisional III Championship
Meet. The Bobcats have already competed at Springfield and are familiar with
the track complex. Look for solid performances from Little Dan, Joel Anderson,
Mike Downing, Nic Hansen, and "Shelly" Daly.
On Saturday, April 23 the Bobcats claimed the
Outdoor Track & Field State of Maine title for the fourth time in four
consecutive years. For this reason, Saturday's meet was perhaps the most
meaningful for the seniors on the team. Add in that Bates hosted the meet and
you've got teary eyes and nostalgia. Bates clearly established itself as a
dominating force in Maine, winning the meet with 262 points, beating the
Bowdoin Polar Bears, Colby Mules, and University of Southern Maine Huskies
with 175, 92, and 73 points, respectively. It was the last meet of the season
for many athletes, who will not compete again until the Fall. It was a fitting
end to months of training and dedication.
One of the most impressive performances of the
day came from Matt "Shelly" Daly who led the 10,000 meter race for nearly 24
laps until he was passed near the final stretch. Shelly, the 2004 State of
Maine champion in the event, crossed the line in 33:22, nearly 35 seconds
faster than his previous PR. Battling the cold relentless rain made his feat
even more impressive.
Bates will travel to Colby on Saturday for the
NESCAC meet where they will face stiff competition from some of the best
Division III teams in the country. With solid depth in each event area, Bates
will find itself in a competitive position and will look to clinch the team
title.
MIT managed to beat the Bobcats at the Bates
Invitational and Decathalon Saturday. Bates put up a strong fight, however,
finishing in a close second. Team scores were MIT (283.5 points), Bates (224),
Colby (131) and Southern Maine (65.5).
Several performances stood out, namely those of
Little Dan, Joel Anderson, and Steve Monsulick. Dan ran 3:58 for the 1500, a
lifetime PR. Opening up in 61 for the first quarter and then fading back,
things did not look bright. But a sprinter's surge in the final 200 meters
blasted Dan past Fivos of MIT and to a sub-4 metric mile. Joel ran 14:59 for
the 5k virtually alone the entire race. The closest finisher behind him was 21
seconds back. Finally, Steve ran 10:02 for his debut in the steeple. Steve
expressed interest in running the event to Todd last week, jumped over the
water barrier a couple times in practice, and lo-and-behold he ran 10:02 for
his opener. Running a smart race in almost last place at the start gave him an
advantage throughout the race and propelled him to a 2nd place finish behind
MIT's Schmeckpeper.
Bates will host the State of Maine meet at the
Russell Street track complex on Saturday. The weather looks to be rainy and
overcast, so the steeplers will not be the only ones getting wet.