DURHAM, N.H. – Bates sophomore Vantiel Elizabeth Duncan of Topsham finished second in the shot put with a personal-record mark of 46 feet and 7.25 inches, automatically qualifying for the NCAA Division III Outdoor Championships and leading the Bobcats at the all-divisions Open New England Outdoor Championships Saturday.

Duncan followed her sixth-place performance Friday in the hammer throw by placing second only to Marsha Locke of Sacred Heart (48-11.75) to score eight of the Bobcats’ 12 points at the meet for 19th place out of 32 scoring teams.

Senior Cassandra Kirkland of Greene had a top throw of 142-08, putting her in 18th place in a field of 24 during the run up to Saturday’s events.

In men’s track, Bates sophomore Rich McNeil placed fifth in the shot put and seventh in the discus throw at the Open New England Outdoor Track and Field Championships Saturday. Bates finished the meet with 21 points, tying the University of Southern Maine and Vermont for 12th place out of 38 scoring teams.

McNeil shot put 50-10.25, edging MIT’s James Oleinik by a quarter of an inch to score four team points for Bates.

Black Bears roar

DURHAM, N.H. – The University of Maine track teams had outstanding performances on the second day of the New England Track and Field Championships.

Leading the way for the Black Bears on the men’s squad was Lewiston’s Dan Poirier, who won the javelin event with a throw of 200 feet, 7 inches. For the women’s squad, Allyson Thomas of Auburn finished in the 10th place in the pole vault.

Baseball

USM swept

KEENE, N.H. – Keene State College scored 35 runs and pounded out 40 hits to sweep the University of Southern Maine, 21-2 and 14-7, to win the 2008 Little East Conference baseball championship tournament Saturday. The Owls (33-9) won their first LEC title coming through the loser bracket over the last two days.

In the opener, Keene State jumped out to a 9-0 lead over the first three innings, and led 17-2 after six. Leading the 26-hit attack was senior Greg Ford with four hits, including a home run and four RBIs.

Husson swept

GLEN FALLS, N.Y. – Senior second baseman, Brad Polcare went 10-for-13 with two home runs, a triple and two doubles, drove in eight runs and scored eight times to lead Castleton State to a pair of NAC baseball championship wins over Husson on Saturday.

Maine drops 2

ORONO – The University of Maine baseball team dropped a doubleheader, 4-2 and 1-0, to the University of Vermont on Saturday afternoon at Centennial Field. In Game 1, the Black Bears (18-25-1) struck first with a run in the top of the first inning. Billy Cather singled up the middle and Curt Smith followed with a double into the left field corner to score Cather.

In the second game, Vermont took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning and that was all they needed.

Eric Thompson had his no-hitter broken up in the top of the seventh inning when Kevin McAvoy singled through the left side. Lugbauer threw out three more base runners attempting to steal in the second game to finish with seven base runners thrown out on the day.