Men's Track and Field 2/8/2020 12:00:00 AM

'Blackout Relay' win lifts men's track into tie with Bowdoin for Maine State indoor title

Ryan Nealis hands off to John Mieszczanski for the final leg of the 4x800 "Blackout" Relay race. The team beat Bowdoin in the final event of the night to allow Bates to tie Bowdoin in the final team scoring at the 52nd Maine State Indoor Men's Track & Field Championships on Feb. 8, 2020. (Courtesy of Tom Leonard '78)

BRUNSWICK, Maine -- The Bates men's track and field team won the 4x800 "Blackout" Relay to tie Bowdoin for first place in the Maine State Men's Indoor Track & Field Championships Saturday night at Bowdoin.

The ending was all the more dramatic with the Bates women pulling off the same feat minutes beforehand -- beating Bowdoin in the 4x800 to tie the Polar Bears for first place. In the men's meet, Bates tied Bowdoin 223-223 (the women's final score was 213-213), followed by Southern Maine (69) and Colby (37).

Sophomore Jackson Elkins (South Deerfield, Mass.), first-year Daniel McConnell (Califon, N.J.), junior Ryan Nealis (London, England) and sophomore John Mieszczanski (Chelmsford, Mass.) won the 4x800 for Bates going away, with a time of 8:04.58 to Bowdoin's 8:12.61, to cap a thrilling night for the Bobcats. By tradition, the majority of the race is run in near-darkness with spectators allowed to crowd the inside two lanes, paying homage to the 2001 race that took place at Bates.

Meanwhile Bates junior John Rex (Andover, Mass.) captured the Peter Goodrich Memorial Award for field athletes. Rex won the weight throw with a new personal record of 60'8". Rex also won both the shot put (49'2.25") to score 20 points for the Bobcats. Rex's weight throw moved him onto Bates' all-time top-10 performances list, into the ninth position. Moving off the top-10 list from 10th place was the namesake of Rex's award, Peter Goodrich '89.

Bates' state title is its 16th in the meet's 52-year history, including both of the last two years and six of the past eight.

Nealis won the meet's Most Valuable Track Athlete award, after also capturing first place in the 800 meters (2:00.81) and second place in the mile (4:30.11).

Other top-three performances by the Bobcats on the night included:

Mieszczanski won the 1,000 meters (2:32.72).
Senior Justin Levine (Boca Raton, Fla.) won the 3,000 meters (8:41.32).
First-year Eli Boesch-Dining (Concord, N.H.) won the 5,000 meters (15:19.87).
Sophomore Nicholas Reznik (Bar Harbor, Maine) placed second in the 3,000 meters (8:44.76).
First-year Peter Ackley (New Albany, Ohio) placed second in the 400-meter dash (51.47 seconds).
Sophomore Bart Rust (Croton on Hudson, N.Y.) placed second in the 5,000 meters (15:29.41).
Elkins placed second in the 800 meters (2:01.08).
Junior Milan Lemon (Plantation, Fla.) placed third in the 60-meter dash (7.31).
Junior Brendan Donahue (Wolfeboro Falls, N.H.) took third place in the 60-meter hurdles (8.68), in the pole vault (13'7.25"), and in the triple jump (43'4.5").
Senior Beaufils Kimpolo-Pene (Bronx, N.Y.) finished third in the long jump (21'2.5").
Sophomore John Everett (Winchester, Mass.) placed third in both the shot put (45'5") and the weight throw (48'3.25").
Running in second place in the 4x400 relay were first-year Owen Glover (Andover, Mass.), sophomore Liam Evans (Sauquoit, N.Y.), junior Miles Nabritt (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Ackley.