ECAC Champs! YAY Men
Two weeks after winning their first New England Division III team title, Bates wins again! The two day meet started strongly for the Bobcats. During the first day of competition, David Pless once again proved he is one of the best throwers in the country, winning the shot put by over seven feet. Pless’ tremendous first throw of 16.85m easily placed him ahead of his competition and gave him the opportunity on his remaining throws to really go for a personal best and the ECAC record. He achieved both – breaking his own PR and school record by over seven inches and the ECAC record by almost two feet when he threw 17.94m (58’10.25”) in the finals. Also Rookie Sean Enos continues to throw beyond his years – placing third with a heave of 15.65m (51’4.25”).
Later the same day, Bates found further success in the 5000m. In the first of two heats, Ben Chebot secured himself as one of Bates all-time greatest distance runners, running the tenth fastest time ever by a Bates athlete. Chebot’s time of 15:03.75 brings the top-ten list to the brink of being completely sub 15. In the second heat, Andrew Wotham and Mike “BIG Red” Martin also ran strongly. Wortham’s strong last kilometer set him up well for a top five finish and valuable team points. Wortham’s time of 14:41.35 was a 15 second PR!
Feeding off of the success of teammates earlier in the day Bates’ National caliber Distance Medley Relay Team placed second, running 9:55 (just hundredths of a second off their own school record). Splits by the men were all around amazing: Nick Barron 3:02 (1200), Ben Levy 49.5 (400), James Lepage 1:51.3!! (800), and Noah “Iceman” Graboys 4:11 (1600) closed with an absurd kick, threatening first place, and leaving the chase-pack behind.
After one day of competition Bates found themselves in first place and never looked back. Success continued on the second day of competition. David Pless, placing second, scored another eight points for the team in the weight throw. Sean Enos also improved upon his freshman weight throw record, PR-ing by over five inches.
John “Mac” Stansel also scored for Bates, running an outstanding 1000m race. After a shaky start, Mac moved up nicely, and finished with a strong kick amongst a crowd of finishers. Mac placed fourth at 2:30.02, over a one second PR and one place better than his seed.
David Hardison also came up big for the Bobcats. Hardison who competed in seven events over the two day meet was ECAC champion in the Heptathlon! Drama in the Heptathlon came down to the last event: the 1000m run. To secure victory, David had to beat the current leader. Showing great strength, after six events, Hardison still had a little left to outlast the current leader and secure victory!
With only a few events left and victory in sight Bates needed strong showings from Tully Hannan in the 3000m and from the 4x800m relay. They did not disappoint. Tully ran a gutsy race from the gun. Tully went out hard in second place and spent most of the later parts of the race running by himself. Despite running by himself, Tully still managed a strong second place, and a six second PR moving up on the all-time top-ten list.
With victory all but secured, the 4x800 relay team of Barron, Mac, Peter “Swayze” Corcoran, and Lepage put an exclamation mark on an already extraordinary meet. Their final time of 7:43.91 was an all-time best for Bates. The new school record adds to the many school records already held by Lepage, Barron, and Swayze but it is a first for John “Mac” Stansel the freshman middle distance phenom. Bates 4x800 relay time bested the field by over five seconds and emphasized one last time to those watching that Bates was indeed ECAC champion.
Next week Nationals.
For More Information
Videos from the meet
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