Bates vs. Colby and Southern Maine
at Waterville, Maine

4-BY-100 RELAY SETS SCHOOL RECORD, RANKED NO. 1 IN NEW ENGLAND

With several top runner unavailable because of finals and others shuffling events, the Bates men's outdoor track and field team took second to Colby at a triangular meet in Waterville. The Bobcats turned in one of the most impressive performances of the season in the 4x100-meter relay.

The Bobcat contingent of Ben Cohen '02 (Wells, Maine), Ryan Deery '02 (Danvers, Mass.), Erik Zwick '01(Virginia Beach, Va.) and Jason Coulie '00 (Manchester, N.H.) recorded an time of 42.79, surpassing the long standing record of 43.34 set in 1970 by Edmund Hibbard, Tim Sheldon, David Williams and Keith Wall.

Cohen led off entering the first exchange with a slight lead over host Colby. After a smooth exchange, Deery held off one of the best sprinters in New England, as Jared Beers of Colby was only able to pull even going into the third exchange. Zwick opened up a five-meter lead on Colby through the turn in the third leg. With a perfect exchange to baseball standout Coulie there was no looking back, an outstanding anchor leg maintained the lead over Colby's top sprinter, Emil Thoman (43.47). With the win, the Bobcats established the top time in New England this season.

Along with the relay win, Erik Zwick also posted two firsts and recorded seasonal bests in the 100 meters (11.16), and the 200 meters (22.53). Coulie added another first in the long jump with a lifetime best of 20-10.5, then backed up Zwick with thirds in the 100 (11.34) and the 200 (23.71). John McGrath '00 (Merrimack, N.H.) captured the 800 meters (1:58.04) after missing the 1,500 with an exam, while Mike Danahy '00 (So. Windsor, Conn.) took the 1,500 (4:06.55), stepping down from the 5,000, an event in which he is provisionally qualified for nationals. Senior Chris Terry (Needham, Mass.), also delayed by finals, arrived within 10 minutes of the start of the 3000-meter steeplchase and won the event with a time of 10:02.

In the field events, junior Lucas Adams (Nottingham, N.H.) captured the shot put with a heave of 45-0, while taking second in the hammer (183-0) to two-time defending national champion Jamie Brewster of Colby. Senior Aron Shapiro (Lexington, Mass.) won the javelin with a season-best throw of 176-6. Junior Rob Davis (Rehoboth, Mass.) took fifth in the hammer with a toss of 163-9, a provisional qualifier for nationals.

The Bobcats open up the championship season next weekend with the NESCAC championships at Conn. College.