Men's outdoor track and field wins 121st annual Maine State Classic, sweeps all three state meets

LEWISTON, Maine -- The Bates men's outdoor track and field team lapped the competition, winning the 121st annual Maine State Classic in dominating fashion on Saturday.

The host Bobcats scored 260.5 points as a team, easily defeating runner-up Colby (127 points) for the Frank E. Lowe Trophy. The Mules were followed by Bowdoin (115 points), Southern Maine (69 points), Husson (65 points), UMaine-Farmington (56 points), and Thomas College (46.5 points).

The Bates men also won the cross country and indoor track and field titles, making this year the first time since 2014-15 the Bobcats have swept all three state meets. Bates has won two straight outdoor titles and 16 of the last 19, with the 2020 and 2021 meets canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With a few exceptions, the Maine State Classic has been held every year since 1895.

On Saturday, junior Liam Byrne (Ridgefield, Conn.) won the The Frederick D. Tootell Memorial Most Valuable Field Athlete Award, taking home state titles in the Ed Styrna Javelin (personal record 183-4/55.89m), Frank Sabasteanski Hammer Throw, (personal record 177-4/54.05m), discus (147-9/45.04m), and shot put (48-6.25/14.79m). Byrne moves from ninth to seventh on the Bates all-time performance list in the javelin.

Bowdoin's Ajay Olson won the The Alan G. Hillman Memorial Most Valuable Track Athlete Award, winning the 100 meters in a meet record time of 10.64 seconds.

The Bobcats had a number of other standouts besides Byrne on their way to victory.

Top three performances for Bates included:

Junior Robert Griffin (Norwell, Mass.) won the C. Ray Thompson 400 meters in 50.22 seconds. He was also on the winning 4x400 relay team, which featured senior Garrett Evans (Sauquoit, N.Y.) first-year Truman Williams (Montclair, N.J.), and first-year Aidan Rooney (Bay Shore, N.Y.) prevailing in 3:26.99.
Sophomore Ned Farrington (Cohasset, Mass.) won the Chet Jenkins 1500 meters in 3:59.66.
Junior Ryan Smith (Westport, Conn.) led a 1-2 Bates finish in the 5000 meters in 14:57.99. Senior captain Bart Rust (Croton on Hudson, N.Y.) was runner-up in 15:08.61.
Sophomores Victor Kering (Eldoret, Kenya) and Colin Thoman (New York City) took first and second in the 10,000 meters in 32:51.11 and 33:15 respectively.
Senior Max Bartley (Presque Isle, Maine) and first-year Andrew Mottur (Rumford, R.I.) took first and second respectively in the Al Fereshetian 3000 meter steeplechase, with Bartley racing to the finish in 10:00.24 and Mottur crossing the finish line in 10:04.11.
Junior Colby Stakun-Pickering (Wellesley, Mass.) placed second in both the 100 meters in 11.01 and the 200 meters in 22.04.
Junior Evan Koch (Brattleboro, Vt.) took second in the 400 hurdles in 57.75.
The 4x100 relay team of Griffin, Stakun-Pickering, Williams, and Evans finished in second place in 43.23.
Senior John Everett (Winchester, Mass.) placed second in the hammer throw (personal record 157-6/48.02m) and second in the shot put (45-2.25/13.77m).
Sophomore James Guinee (Peabody, Mass.) took second in the discus with a top throw of 127-7 (38.90m).
Rooney placed third in the 800 meters in 1:56.02.
Senior John Mieszczanski (Chelmsford, Mass.) finished third in the 1500 meters in 4:01.31.
Koch finished third in the Jack McGee 110 Meter Hurdles in 15.81 seconds.
Senior Chidubem Umeh (Randolph, Mass.) took third in the shot put with a top throw of 42-5.25 (12.93m).