The Bates men’s track and field team claimed second place at the Bates Maine Invitational meet, finishing only behind the Division 1 University of Maine. The Bobcats finished only 47 points behind the Black Bears, posting 193 points in the meet.
Also in attendance were the University of Southern Maine, St. Joseph’s College, Colby, and Bowdoin.
The men were led by a number of great performances, including a clean sweep by David Pless in the throwing events. Pless won the shot put with a throw of 59’5.5″, and the hammer with a throw of 63’6.25″.
Fellow teammates Sean Enos and Nick Margitza finished second and third in the shot put, earning a clean sweep for Bates.
Senior runners David Hardison and Andrew Wortham both finished second in their events. Hardison competed on both Friday and Saturday as he participated in the heptathlon, scoring 4,599. Wortham competed in the 5,000, finishing with a time of 15:36.75.
The Lady Bobcats were even more successful on the day; they won four events in posting 201.5 points, narrowly edging out Maine by 9 points to win the 1st annual Bates Invitational. This was a historic day; not only did Bates take down the Division 1 Black Bears, but also smashed a record along the way.
Freshman Alexis Dickinson broke the Bates 60-yard dash record by posting a time of 8.18 in the preliminary round, breaking the record set last year by graduated senior Lizzy Carleton. Dickinson later finished 5th in the finals of the 60-yard dash.
Sarah Fusco and Isabelle Unger also won races in helping to lead Bates to a victory.
Fusco was the victor in the 600 meters with a time of 1:36.84, and Unger won the 800 with a time of 2:27.24. Bates also won the 4×400 relay as Amelia Oliver, Sarah Fusco, Elise Levesque, and Kate Deangelis finished first with a time of 2:18.31. “Our goal going into the meet was to perform to the best of our abilities, which we did and then some,” noted sophomore Colby Gail.
Both the men and the women were pleased with their finishes, and hope to carry their momentum to the Terrier Classic at Boston University this Friday and the USM Invitational this Saturday.
