Amanda Burgess’ career at Colby College is sprinting to the wire. Brittany Bell, in a development that must make her teammates and coaches ecstatic and her competition queasy, is barely out of the starting block.

It has been a brilliant season at both ends of the experience spectrum for the White Mules. Burgess and Bell were two of nine Colby women’s track and field athletes named to the NESCAC all-conference team last week.

Runners, jumpers and throwers were honored by virtue of their performance in the league’s championship meet April 24. The top three finishers in each event earned all-NESCAC recognition.

Bell, a freshman out of Poland Regional High School, was runner-up at 400 meters in a time of 57.74 seconds. Auburn’s Burgess, an Edward Little High School graduate, was part of a third-place 4×800 relay quartet.

It was a prolific month from start to finish for the Colby women and their tri-county contingent.

In the Aloha Relays at Bowdoin College on April 17, Bell again was second in 400. She also took third in the 200 and finished fourth in long jump. Burgess and the 3,200-meter relay team celebrated victory.

Oxford Hills graduate Mandy Ivey, a senior, was fourth in the 5,000. Junior Tory Gray of Farmington (Mt. Blue) matched that performance in javelin.

Gray and Bell were the stars in an April 10 meet at MIT. Gray’s javelin throw and Bell’s long jump were good for runner-up laurels. Bell also ran third in the 200.

Fitchburg State was the site of Ivey’s third-place finish in the 10,000 meters on April 3. Bell placed fifth in the 200.

‘CATS KEEP PACE

Not to be overshadowed by its rival, Bates boasted its own headline performer at the NESCAC meet.

Men’s All-America thrower Rich McNeil received the Sabasteanski Award, presented each year to the outstanding male athlete at the conference competition.

McNeil was responsible for 28 of a possible 30 points in his three events. The senior won the hammer throw and shot put and was runner-up in discus.

That triple crown left McNeil with five conference championships and 11 all-NESCAC honors in his career. On the strength of McNeil’s banner day, the Bobcats finished third out of 11 teams.

Bates hadn’t walked off with the Sabasteanski trophy since Mike Danahy and Erik Zwick shared the distinction and steered the Bobcats to their most recent NESCAC championship in 2000.

Other men’s all-conference achievers for Bates were Jesse Chapman (discus champion), Chris Murtagh (high jump, shot put and javelin), Jerome Bennett (high jump), Ethan Waldman (shot put), Sam Goldstein (pole vault) and the 4×100 relay squad.

On the women’s side, Vantiel Elizabeth Duncan of Topsham (Mt. Ararat) won the high jump and shot put and placed third in discus for her own triple take at NESCACs. Duncan pushed her career total of all-conference awards to seven.

Lisa Hartung of Farmington (Mt. Blue) was part of Bates’ all-league 4×100 relay combination along with Ansley Flanagan, Dana Lindauer and Tina Tobin. Lindauer (400) and Tobin (100 hurdles) also made the all-NESCAC team as individuals along with Sara Ellen Godek (hammer throw).

STICK TO IT

Two Lewiston High School products led the University of Southern Maine lacrosse teams to victory last week.

First-year attacker Shelby Turcotte chalked up a goal and two assists in the women’s 17-6 triumph over Rhode Island College. Turcotte is one of only five Southern Maine women to appear in the Huskies’ first 16 games. Her 23 goals and 27 points are good for third on the team in both categories.

Men’s goalie Kyle Dussault, a sophomore, made 13 saves to protect a 15-13 victory over UMass-Boston. It was the Huskies’ first Little East Conference victory of the campaign. Dussault moved over the 100-save threshold for the season with that performance. He wields a .401 save percentage.

koakes@sunjournal.com

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