Sophomore John Stansel (Newburyport, Mass.) had the best performance in an impressive season-opening performance for the No. 5 nationally ranked Bates men’s cross country team, as the Bobcats swept both class wave races in a dual meet at Colby on Saturday.
With the higher score winning (in contrast to typical cross-country team scoring), Bates won the Juniors/Seniors race by a convincing 39-16 score, and edged the Mules 28-27 in the First-Years/Sophomores battle, for a 67-43 combined win.
Stansel had the fastest time of the day, covering Colby’s 3-mile home course in 15:37.54, 11 seconds ahead of the runner-up from Colby. Sophomore Camden Black-Ingersoll (Concord, N.H.) finished third in 15:58.05. In the Junior/Senior race, Bates senior James LePage (Cumberland, Maine) edged junior teammate Noah Graboys (Glencoe, Ill.) for first place by a 15:46.97 to 15:50.1 margin for top honors. Senior captain Andrew Wortham (Newton, Mass.) and junior Mike Martin (Slatersville, R.I.) earned Bates a sweep of the top four spots, at 15:50.41 and 15:50.81, respectively.
Bates returns almost all of its top runners from the 2011 squad that placed seventh at the Division III championships. The Bobcats next host No. 7 Tufts in the Bates Invitational this Saturday, Sept. 15, at 11am at Pineland Farms in New Gloucester.
