FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEN'S TRACK AND FIELD TAKES SECOND AT NESCACS
Sawler, Zwick and Easter Win Titles

LEWISTON, Maine — Three Bates College men's track and field athletes won individual championships as the Bobcats placed second at the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) championships at Wesleyan University.

Leading the way was junior thrower Jaime Sawler of Stratham, N.H., who won two titles. Sawler won the hammer throw with a lifetime best performance of 188-1, the second best performance in NCAA Division III this season. He remains undefeated in the hammer throw this season. Sawler also won the discus throw with a heave of 142-5, making him one of just three multiple winners at the meet. Sawler, who also took third in the shot put, led an impressive contingent of Bates throwers at the NESCAC championships. Junior Greg Hurley of Arlington, Mass., placed third in the javelin throw (173 04) and in the hammer throw (168-0) and fifth in the shot put (40-7), while classmate Jesse Carney of Brunswick, Maine, took third in the discus (131-1), fifth in the hammer (139-0) and eighth in the javelin (140-9). In all, Bates throwers accounted for 56 of the Bobcats' 120 points.

Senior sprinter Erik Zwick of Virginia Beach, Va., successfully defended his NESCAC crown in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.06 seconds after running 10.97 in the preliminaries. Zwick missed defending his title in the 200-meters by eight-hundredths of a second, taking second place in 22.19. He also anchored Bates' second-place 4x100-meter relay to a time of 42.83 seconds.

Sophomore Justin Easter of Jay, Maine, also successfully defended a NESCAC title from 2000, winning the 3,000-meter steeplechase by nearly four minutes with a time of 9:14.87. Easter, who qualified automatically for the NCAA championships in the steeplechase three days earlier at the Penn Relays, is ranked second in the nation. Bates had one other All-NESCAC performance, as first-year pole vaulter Matt Ondra of New Tripoli, Pa., placed second with a height of 13-3.

Complete results from the NESCAC championships are available here, courtesy Wesleyan University.