Two Bates athletes collect national titles

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Two athletes from Bates College won national titles and a Bowdoin senior set a school record over the weekend at the NCAA Division III Track & Field Championships.

Justin Easter of Jay won the 3,000-meter steeplechase while teammate Jaime Sawler of Stratham, N.H., finished first in the hammer throw. The 20 points those athletes scored put Bates in eighth place in the team competition – the best showing ever by the Bobcats.

Another Bates runner, Kelly Puglisi of Scotia, N.Y., finished third in the 1,500 with a time of 4:37.92.

Easter ran the race in 9 minutes, 2.02 seconds to earn the victory. Sawler, who won a national title in the 35-pound weight throw indoors, tossed the hammer 188 feet, 10 inches.

Also competing at the meet were Bowdoin’s Nick Lyford and Casey Kelley, each of whom ran high school track at Narraguagus High in Harrington.

Lyford went into the javelin seeded 15th and wound up seventh with a school-record throw of 198-6.

Kelley finished 10th in her flight of the triple jump and 19th of 19 competitors despite a leap of 36-10. Also competing in that event was Karima Ummah of Colby, who jumped 37-8 and came in 11th. Neither Ummah nor Kelley advanced to the finals.