Bowdoin, Hamilton and the U.S. Coast Guard Academy all learned why the men's tennis team is ranked sixth in the East region and 20th in the nation in NCAA Division III, as the Bobcats lost just two matches in taking home the title of the Bates Invitational. The Bobcats topped Coast Guard, ranked 14th in the East, 5-2, and bested 13th-ranked Bowdoin and Hamilton, 7-0 each. First-year player Brian Kend lost just six games in three matches at No. 6, while the No. 2 doubles team of seniors Mark Erelli and Jeff Zink won all three of their matches by a combined score of 24- 12.
In a near repeat of last season's game, the women's lacrosse team topped Wellesley, 9-7, in a tightly played game. The Bobcats scored four goals on their first five possessions of the game, including two by senior tri-captain Suzanna Baird, to go up 4-0 five minutes into the game. Wellesley stormed back, scoring six of the next seven goals of the half to take a 6-5 lead. Just before halftime Baird scored again to send the game to halftime tied at six. In a well played second half, the Bobcats got on the board first five minutes in, but Wellesley answered on their next possession. The game stayed knotted at seven until midway through the second half, when senior tri-captain Jodi Kopke notched her first goal of the game to put Bates up for good. Junior Lydia Langford tallied an insurance goal with 1:30 left in the game to make the final margin. Langford led the Bobcats with four goals and an assist.
In the non-scoring Snowflake Classic at Tufts Mar. 30, 12 different Bates athletes qualified for the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships. At the top of the list was senior thrower Heather Bumps who won the javelin throw with a heave of 137' 3", qualifying her not only for New Englands, but the national championships, which will be held May 22-25 at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois. Other women who qualified for New Englands: first-year students A.T. Taylor, who followed up her hoops success by setting a school record in the long jump, 16' 6"; distance runner Adelia Myrick, who came in second in the 3000m (10:33.8); jumper Lindsey Hescock, who was third in the high jump (5"0'); sprinter Meghan Lockwood, fourth in the 100m (12.84); and seniors Megan Lane, fourth in the 10,000m (40:39.9); and Kirsten Achenbach, fifth in the 1500m (5:02.88)
The men also had several impressive performances this weekend. Leading the way was first-year pole vaulter Peter Beeson who won the event and qualified for New Englands with a vault of 13' 0", while classmate Jeff Crowder took third in the event with a vault of 11' 6". Senior Chip Nobel set a personal record, finishing second in the 400m with a time of 51.33 seconds. The Bobcat throwers continued their impressive year, as senior Jon Eden and junior Sammy Martin finished third and fourth in the hammer throw with heaves of 158' 7" and 155' 0", qualifying both of them for New Englands. The 4x100 relay team of first-year students Kapil Bahl and Dave Weir, junior Chip Nobel and senior Matt Lincoln also made the regional championships, finishing fifth with a time of 47.04 seconds. Other top five performers: senior Steve Beardsley, fourth in the 1500m (4:07.95); Nobel, fourth in the 200m (23.5); senior Sean Galipeau, fifth in the 3000m steeplechase (10:17.10); martin, fifth in the shot put (42' 6");and first-year thrower Aron Shapiro, fifth in the javelin (156' 9").
The men's lacrosse team survived a scare against Gordon, 12-10, at MIT March 26, but could not stave off Amherst, falling 10-5.
Against Gordon, the Bobcats were down 3-2 after one quarter, but found the offense in the second, scoring six goals to take an 8-6 halftime lead. Junior midfielder Carter Jons scored four of the second period goals and assisted on a fifth. Bates then scored the next three goals of the game in the third quarter to put them up for good, 11-6, though they would need all of those goals as Gordon sliced the final score to 12-10. Jons led the way on the day, picking up six goals and three assists for nine points, while the team's leading scorer, senior attack Rob Toomey dished out six assists. Senior tri-captain, goalie Matt Arsenault had 15 saves to gain the win.
In the game against Amherst, Toomey led the way with a goal and two assists, but the Lord Jeffs offense put 30 shots on goal. Arsenault stopped 20 of them but it wasn't enough. Jons, junior midfielder Josh Baschnagel, junior attack Matt Brady and senior attack Joe Tweed each tallied goals in addition to Toomey. The Bobcats' record stands at 2-3.
Despite some outstanding individual performances, the softball team fell to Johnson and Wales University, 9-8 in the first game of a double header and 8-5 in the second to open the season 0-2.
In the first game, Bates jumped out to an 8-1 lead thanks to some heavy hitting by junior catcher Heather Chichester. The captain went 4-5 on the day with one double, two home runs and four RBI. Coupled with the performance of first-year pitcher Becky Gasior, who had 10 strikeouts with just four hits and three walks in the first six innings, the Bobcats seemed safely on the way to a win. In the bottom of the seventh, though, things seemed to fall apart, as Johnson and Wales scored eight runs on three hits, three walks and three costly errors, as just two of the eight runs charged to Gasior in the seventh were earned.
Game two saw Bates try to play catch up, falling behind 5-0 after two innings. They were able to crawl to within three at 8-5 with two runs in the top of the seventh, but the rally fell short. The Bobcats were led by first-year second baseman Liz Grace, who was 3-5 with a double and two stolen bases. Sophomore shortstop Brandi Richards also had three hits on the day, going 3-3 with a double and two runs scored.