The team split up to compete at two different meets this weekend; one group went to compete at the BU Terrier Invitational and the USM Invitational.

BU:
David Pless’13 finished third overall in the shot put, first among D3 athletes, with a throw of 54-10.25. He followed up his personal best in the weight throw from last weekend with a new personal best, increasing it to 59-9, good enough to get him fourth.

James Lepage’13 ran a 1:54.4 in the 800, the second best time among D3 runners at the meet.

USM:
Chris Halstead’14 and Charley Kenyon’15 went 1-2 in the 55 hurdles with times of 8.7 and 8.86. Charley ran 8.58 in the prelims, which was the fastest time of the day.

Duncan Briggs’12 won the triple jump with a jump of 40-11.25 and took second in the long jump with a jump of 19-3.5

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What an amazing race. This was the Bates Men’s XC team’s best finish since the team finished 6th in 1977. Tully Hannan’ 14 led the way for Bates finishing 27th in a time of 24:39, earning himself All-American honors. Andrew Wortham’ 13 finished second for Bates in 49th place. Tully and Wortham showed great teamwork, running together for much of the race and helping lead each other to their top finishes. In third place for Bates was Michael Martin’ 14 in 90th place, followed by Ben Chebot ‘12 in 108th place and Devin Diltzz ’12 in 118th. Ken Whitney’ 13 and Noah Graboys’ 14 rounded out the team in 128th place and 207th place.

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Bates has earned their way to Nationals for the first time since '04! Despite what may have been a disappointing performance for some, the Bates men still finished fourth at the Regional meet this past weekend, which was good enough for them to still qualify for nationals. Noah Garboys '14 had what was arguably his best race of the season, leading the way for Bobcats finishing 18th overall.

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Bates' second seven were given a chance to shine at the ECACs Championship as the varsity seven were sat so that they will be rested for Regionals this upcoming Saturday. The guys ran exceedingly well, finishing 4th out of 44 teams.

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Coach Fresh was nominated by his fellow NESCAC coaches as NESCAC Men's Cross Country Coach of the Year for the first time this season. He has previously recieved the award in track, but this is the first time he has recieved it in Cross Country. This acknowledgement by the other NESCAC coaches recognizes what the team has already known for a long time: Fresh is an exceptional and dedicated coach.

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The Bates men battled to a tie for second with Bowdoin this past weekend at the Nescac meet in Amherst, MA. While the meet finished shortly before the snow started, that doesn’t mean racing conditions were easy. Senior Captain Devin Diltz lost his shoe in the mud early into the race and had to run the remaining 4 miles without one. Several other members of the team lost shoes and were sent tumbling in the muddy backfields of the Amherst course.

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Bates had an extremely strong showing at the State of Maine meet, winning with only 23 points.  Bates snapped Bowdoin’s 6-year winning streak by putting their top 5 in the top 7 of the meet, earning those 5 All-State honors.

Click here for more. Click here for a video of the State Meet taken by Joe Gromelski '74

This past weekend the Bates men traveled to St. Lawrence to race some strong teams outside of the region. The Bates men won with 53 points, with St. Lawrence taking 2nd scoring 75(Then ranked 11th in the country) and SUNY Geneseo taking 3rd with 76 points (Then ranked 5th in the country).

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The Bates men are off to a great start this season, winning the Codfish Bowl, taking second at the Maine Invitational, and beating Colby in their season opener. The team is looking very strong with Tully Hannan ’14 leading the way for the Bobcats thus far.

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Bates sent a solid contingent down to nationals with Brett Epler, in his first trip to the meet in the decathlon, as well as the throwing trio of Murtagh, Ethan, and Pless. Murtagh came away with seventh in the Hammer, earning his second All-American honors, and Pless finished eighth in the shot, earning his second All-American award as well. More information/results.

Bates won the ECAC Championships this weekend at Moravian college. The meet was highlighted by a number of spectacular performances, including LePage's 1:53.03 800, and Murtagh's school and meet record 197' 2'' hammer throw. More information/results.

After placing third at the Division III New England championships last weekend, Bates came back and surpassed all of the Division III competition at this weekend's Open New England Championships, placing fifth. The team was powered by exceptional performances in the shot, in which Pless, Murtagh, and Ethan took first, third, and fifth, respectively. Pless's throw of 58-10 surpassed his next competitor and his own PR by over two feet. Murtagh's throw was also a two foot best that poises him well for the upcoming national championships. read more...

Bates took third place at the Division III New England Championships hosted by MIT this past weekend. Brett got things started on Thursday and Friday by winning the Decathlon with 6,162 points, qualifying provisionally for nationals. Also on Friday, Ethan's discus throw of 162-10, a seven foot PR, was good for the win. read more... *with links to more videos*

Throwers Get Things Rolling at Colby

While the throwers are a consistent cornerstone of the Bates tack program, they outdid themselves this weekend at Colby, as Murtagh, Ethan, and Pless all threw their best ever marks in the hammer, shot, and discus, breaking two school records in the process. Murtagh eclipsed the former hammer record of 193-7, set last year by Rich McNeil, with his throw of 196-4. His throw surpasses marks set by twelve all-americans and four national champions from Bates, and qualifies him automatically for this year's national championships. read more...

Bates Triumphs Over MIT at Home

The team continued a promising outdoor campaign this past weekend, defeating MIT, Colby and USM at home. The throwers were on form, as usual. They swept the top three spots in the shot, with Murtagh closing the gap on Pless and Ethan. Duncan won his second meet straight in the jav, and Pless and Murtagh took two and three in the disc with impressive throws of 153-0 and 152-8. The same duo went 2-3 in the hammer, with Murtagh hitting the provo mark in 178-4. read more...

Team gets things started at UMO

After snow was dumped on much of New England on Friday, it was looking uncertain whether a meet would be possible this weekend, but thankfully the team was able to get things started in a dual meet with UMaine on Sunday. The meet was unscored, but offered Bates the opportunity to compete with some solid Division I athletes, against whom our men faired well, winning seven events. Just taking a cursory look performances that stand out as commendable to me:

Duncan threw 191-9 in the jav, winning the event and giving him the second best all-time mark by a Bates athlete with the current weight.

Pless won the Shot and Disc, eclipsing his former best in the Disc with a throw of 150-2.

Elmo ran an admirable 32:51 in the 10,000 in his first attempt at the event.

Myles ran a strong double, running a personal best 4:15 1500 and coming back for a 2:05 800.

Tony and Jarret went 1-2 in the 110 hurdles, in 15.66 and 15.69, respectively.

There were plenty of other performances worth mention, which one can find in the results. These are just a few that stuck out. As the fist meet of the season, it shows that the Bates men are getting into form and ready to crush things down the road.

Three All-Americans for Bates; Pless National Champion!

Nationals went exceptionally well for Bates, as Murtagh, Ethan, and Pless all came home with All-American honors, and Pless with a national crown. On Friday, on his last attempt, Murtagh threw the weight 19.19 meters (52-11.5), his second best throw of the season, claiming fifth and his first All-American honors. Murtagh's throw would have won the event last year. read more...

Hey Folks, sorry I've been delinquent in getting things updated, I've been without internet and preoccupied for much of the last few weeks. Thankfully, the official site has great news coverage, and now I have some great supplemental material thanks to Ira Waldman. The past three weeks have been filled with some outstanding performances, culminating with the team's second place finish at ECAC's down in New York. Ethan's dad has some great video coverage on youtube, including:

David Pless's School Record 55' 2.75' Shot Performance at DIII New Englands.

Chris Murtagh's ECAC Winning, Automatic National Qualifying Weight Throw of 63' 9"

Ethan Waldman's First of Two 53' 1.75" Throws That Won Him the ECAC Shot Put Title.

Sara Ellen Godek's 55' 9.25" Weight Throw, Placing Her Second at ECAC's.

Pless and Murtagh are automatically qualified for this coming weekend's National Championships, and Ethan and Sara Ellen are provisionally qualified, so next weekend could be a big one for Bates.

Preparing for the upcoming big meets, the team set out to get some strong qualifying performances this weekend. Barron really got it done, running a national provisional time of 4:13 in the mile. Noah and Tully also went big in the 5000, running provo marks of 14:38 and 14:48, respectively, with Noah winning their heat with a strong kick. Videos of all the BU races can be viewed here

In the perennially exciting indoor state meet, the Bates men turned things up a notch and captured the team crown for the first time in four years, outscoring the hosting Bowdoin team 196 to 143. Among many outstanding performances, Ethan's throw of 54' 8.25" in the shot put not only earned him the state title, but surpassed Dustin Gauthier's former school record of 53' 4.5" by over a foot, and was just over an inch shy of the automatic national qualifying standard. Murtagh also continued his stellar season by capturing the state title in the weight, setting a meet record of 60' 7.25" and earning the Peter Goodrich Award for most outstanding field performance. read more...

In honor of Coach Woodhead, who passed away in the fall, the Bates throwers performed phenomenally well this past weekend, continuing what has been a great season thus far. Woodhead's wife, Mary Ellen Woodhead, was in attendance to witness the men's throwers post nine personal bests, and the women's throwers post eight. Woodhead was a key component of the Bates track program for his 25 years here, leading athletes to 43 All-American awards, and Six National Championship awards, molding his pupils into some of the greatest athletes at Bates. read more...

Barron, Quinn, LePage, and Tully run a 9:58 school record in the DMR.

The Bates men continued their strong indoor campaign this weekend with an overhwelming victory at USM, loaded with plrenty of strong performances which bode well for next week's state meet. The weekend was highlighted, however, by two school record breaking performances. Friday night, the DMR consisting of Nick Barron, Ryan Quinn, James LePage, and Tully Hannan broke the old record of 10:04 with their 9:58 performance, splitting approximately 3:02, 49, 1:53, and 4:11. Saturday, LePage won the 600 at USM in 1:22.22, breaking 2007 graduate Sam Thomas's record of 1:23.21. Full USM Results

Video of the Second DMR running 10:11

The Bates men put more pieces of the puzzle together this weekend in the second of two early season meets at home. The team demonstrated its strength by finishing relatively close behind Division One UMaine, and ahead of close competitors USM. Tully was awarded the honor baton for his 8:34 victory in his first 3000 of the season, which put him fifth on the Bates all-time list in the event. read more...

Despite only fielding about two thirds of the team, the Bates men demonstrated that they are capable of great things this season. The meet was highlighted by a number of strong individual performences in which athletes were finally able to showcase the work they've done over the past year. David Pless received the honor baton for his impressive marks of 15.41m in the weight and 14.97m in the shot. Along with Pless, Murtagh and Ethan led the throwers with wins in the Weight and Shot, with throws of 18.60 and 15.78 m, respectively. It was sick. read more...

Unfortunately, amidst finals and other obligations, I neglected to update the website on events such as Devin's appearance at nationals and Brett's win at the Bates Pentathlon. Between positive performances at the pentathlon, and at recent time trials and throw-offs, things are looking quite promising for the team. We're all on break now, getting rest and an academic reprieve, but not without a healthy dose of training. The full team will get things going when we return in January, with two consecutive meets at home on the 15th and 22nd.

The team had its best showing in years at regionals, placing fifth out of 49 teams. While the team was unfortunately not selected to compete at nationals, Devin will be representing the team there next weekend thanks to his ninth place individual finish. I'm a bit pressed for time, and not sure I have much to contribute beyond what's on the official site, but I'll at least say that our top four all had phenomenal races, all earning all region honors, and our five through seven all ran respectably in this year's deep field, capping off what one cannot deny was quite the succesful season. Our team is full of young talent, and I can only hope Bates will be gunning toward the top of the region next year.

Full Results

I apologize for failing to update the website this past week. While I would like to contend that I've been swamped with work, I will concede that I've frittered away much of my time watching Battlestar Galactica. The past two meets have gone far too well to go without mention, with fifth place finishes at both NESCACs and ECACs, and a move into 31st in the national rankings. Our finish at NESCACs poises us well for regionals, as we were only 20 points out of second, and ran without Iceman up front. read more...

The Bates men put up a real fight today at the state meet, in which they fell to Bowdoin, 23-36. The meet truly was a duel between Bates and Bowdoin, as USM, the third place teem, had 80 some points, and the top 9 finishers were from Bates and Bowdoin. The front of the race was indicative of things to come, as Noah was outkicked by Bowdoin's Coby Horowitz, both finishing in 25:43, beginning what could be an intense rivalry for years to come. Props especially to Jag, Graham, Elmo, and Jamie, all of whom had killer races. read more...

The Bates men ran to 15th place out of 47 teams at this weekend's Open New England Championships. Bates was the fourth division III team, behind only Williams, Bowdoin, and Keene State. The JV squad also faired quite well, placing 13th. Devin had a beastly race, placing 26th in a time of 25:20. Noah placed 44th in 25:36, Wortham was 88th at 26:05, and Tully was 126th in 26:22. Jag and Sweetums crossed the line within a second of each other, placing 150th and 151st in 26:36 and 26:37, with Grizz not far off in 26:43. read more...

On a sweltering day at Franklin Park, the Bates men managed to finish second out of 25 teams in this weekend's Codfish Invitational, falling only to Division-II Bentley. While many were hampered by the heat, Noah, Devin, and Wortham managed to fight through it and finish second, seventh, and eleventh, respectively. Noah was in fact the first collegiate competitor to cross the line.read more...

The Bates men had a great day in their home meet at Pineland this weekend, defeating Bowdoin, Tufts, and Colby to win the meet. Bates was powered by a 1-2-3 finish, with Noah capturing the individual title in a time of 26:09, followed by Devin in 26:20 and Wortham in 26:21. Noah's time was the fastest run by a Bates athlete on the course to date. Bowdoin and Tufts put solid packs in behind Wortham, after which Tully, in his first race of the season coming off of injury, finished fourth for the team in a time of 27:10, with Sweetums nipping at his heels in 27:11. read more...

Bob Cedrone '76 was recently named the USATF New England athlete of the month. Cedrone was awarded the honor after winning the Throws Pentathlon, Ultra Pentathlon, and Super Weight Throw at the USA Master Throws Championships this past month. An article was published here.

The team opened the 2010 cross country season at Pineland Farms, running against Colby on a 6k course in freshman/sophomore and junior/senior waves. Bates prevailed in both races, taking a combined 70 points over Colby's 39, using a goofy scoring system similar to that used in track. The day started off with the junior/senior race, in which Colby's Ben Cunkelman took the race from the gun, only to be chased down by Devin, who won with a four second margin of victory and a time of 19:38. Cunkelman took second, but Bates took the three through five spots thanks to Sweetums (Peter Gurney), Sean Colligan, and Taska, who all finished within 20 seconds of each other. Tristan and Kevin both had solid races as well, finishing eighth and ninth. read more...

While falling to the alumni by one point, this year's varsity squad showed real potential in the alumni meet.  The alumni took the top three places, which, owing to the dual meet format, secured their victory.  Justin Freeman of the class of 98 won the race, notching his fifth alumni meet win, and third in the past four years.   Close behind Freeman was Robbie Gomez '05, followed by Steve Monsulick '07, who won last year's race.  Senior Devin Dilts almost turned the tables for the varsity team, but finished just a couple seconds behind Monsulick.  Still, the current Bates men managed to show their strength by sweeping places four through fourteen. read more...

As August approaches, and anticipation of the cross country season mounts, it has come time to archive last year's news here, and start a clean slate for what will hopefully be another year of success and surprises. It also seems appropriate to update the world on how those of us on the team have been keeping busy these past couple months. While training for the fall has been a feature of all of our schedules, some have been going about it differently than others. Wortham, for one, seems to have taken to running with girls. Though perhaps just for pleasure, this new approach to training has yielded surprisingly strong results, as he recently ran a pretty solid 5 miler. Nonetheless, photo documentation of this tomfoolery will have to be obtained so Todd can give Wortham a scolding upon his return to campus.

Tristan has become somewhat of a naturalist, spotting all sorts of crazy animals on his runs, including moose on a couple of occaisions. Also busy communing with nature, Taska decided to escape the raging metropolis of Lowell, Vermont, and hiked the long trail a few weeks ago, covering it in just two weeks. Others, who I will refrain from naming, have not been so inclined, and have instead occupied much of their time with silly xbox games. Still, they claim to have been balancing their technoboobery with other fruitful pursuits. The incoming freshmen, in particular, have been reporting a number of interesting activities, such as surfing, triathloning, and travelling to locations including DC, Italy, and even South Africa for the world cup. They all sound like wholesome young gentlemen, who should bring a lot to the table this fall. Until then, however, we've all got to suffer
through the heat, or hope it subsides, as there are many more miles to run before September.

Recently, a newsletter was compiled with some brief write-ups on various aspects of Bates track and cross country, including this past year's successes and outlooks on what is to come. Take a look. (Downloads as .pdf)