By Amy Webb
Sports Editor

Three school records. Seven national provisional qualifying marks. 21 All-New England individual honors.

The men’s track and field team has been extremely busy - and increasingly succesful - in post-season competition, taking third at the Division III New England Championships and 19th at the Open New England Championships over the last two weeks.

On Feb. 20-21 the Bobcats traveled to Brunswick to take on a field of 21 Division III New England schools.

Joel Anderson became the only titlist for Bates with his 8:42.14 victory in the 3,000m. Andrson knocked more than 10 seconds off his previous best, and finished four seconds ahead of the nearest competitor.

Rookie Sam Thomas shined in the 600m, setting a new school and personal record with a 1:23.21 second-place finish.

Bates picked up a majority of their points in the field events, led by a pair of runner-up efforts from Dustin Gauthier. The junior threw 51-11.23 in the 35-lb weight throw and 56-01.62 in the shot, taking second to MIT’s Uzoma Orji in both events.

The Bobcats racked up more points in the weight as Jordan Upton, Scott Cooper, and Jeff Davis went 4-5-6 for 12 points.

Adam Macbeth had a personal best day in the long jump, hitting the 21-07.44 mark for third place. He added to this success in the 55m hurdles, crossing the line for a fourth place, 7.88 second finish.

In the pole vault Matt Ondra cleared 14-03.50 for second behind state record holder Wil Snyder of USM.

Bates picked up three valuable top-eight spots in the pentathlon, as Adam Soule (fifth), Andrew Tibbets (seventh), and Rich Blalock (eighth) tallied seven points on the first day of competition.

The Bobcats accumulated 84.5 points for third place behind Williams (115.5) and Tufts (107.5). Bates edged out MIT (fourth, 73) and Bowdoin (sixth, 50).

“I outlined our goals at the beginning of the season,” said coach Fereshetian. “We wanted a top-three finish at New England’s, and we converted a tremendous oportunity with our third place finish.”

Last weekend the team competed in Open New England’s in Boston, where they set two more school records and hit several NCAA provisional marks.

Ondra broke his own school record and hit a national qualifying mark when he cleared 15-03.75 for fourth. The 4x400m relay shattered a 15-year school record with their 3:20.87 finish.

“I really wanted them to set a 4x4 record, which they did this weekend at Opens,” said coach Hob Brooks. “It really signifies the hard work of the sprinters - not just the guys on the relay. It’s everyone in our sprint group that helped this relay get to where they are.”

Joel Colony had a solid ninth-place finish in the 55m dash with a personal best of 6.58. Matt Capone added to this with success of his own, finishing the 200m in 22.75, the fastest rookie time in Bates history.

Anderson came back with another improved performance in the 5000m, dropping 17 seconds off his personal best for 10th place in 14:50.01.

“Joel’s performances in the 3k and 5k were strong races,” said coach Todd Goewey. “This weekend was a personal best and national provisional mark, and that is always a sign of a great performance.”

Cooper improved his national standing in the weight throw with a 55-02.00 mark. Gauthier continued his season sucess with a sixth-place finish in the shot put.

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