Al Fereshetian – News

Video: �ֲ��ý cross country’s run to nationals

Aaron Morse — Fri, 16 Nov 2018 14:50:45 +0000

For the first time since 2012, both �ֲ��ý cross country teams qualified for the NCAA Championships in the same season. They are traveling to��Winneconne, Wis., to compete Saturday against the nation’s best.

“Although we run separate programs, we are totally invested in each other’s program,” men’s cross country head coach Al Fereshetian said. “This is what you want to happen — both teams to have success and have the chance to get out there and compete at nationals.”

The teams share striking similarities. Both the women and the men entered New England Regionals ranked No. 24 in the country. They both finished in sixth place at regionals, and they both qualified for nationals this year after coming up just short last season.

“Especially after the result from last year, this year was just a whole different feeling,” said women’s cross country captain Ayden Eickhoff ’19 of Corvallis, Mont. “After we found out the guys’ team was going too, we knew it was just going to be more of a communal competition over there, and we’re really excited about it.”

This marks the sixth time in program history the men have qualified for NCAAs and the fifth time for the women. This is the women’s team’s second trip to nationals in the last three years.

“Nationals is always hard,” women’s cross country head coach Jay Hartshorn said. ”If it doesn’t feel hard, you’re not working hard enough. You just have to prepare for how hard the experience is going to be and being really ready to put it all out there.” ��

With his ‘Fresh’ approach, Al Fereshetian makes history with �ֲ��ý track and field throwers

Aaron Morse — Wed, 06 Jun 2018 20:28:00 +0000

Al Fereshetian is excited.

It is a perfect spring day in Lewiston, Maine, and Fereshetian is finally getting to spend some quality time with his discus throwers after a few weeks of rough weather.

“It’s like we’re in Florida!” Fereshetian says to his charges, who include senior captain Adedire Fakorede ’18 of Newark, N.J., soon to be a three-time All-American. “Hey, after this, who wants to go to Dairy Joy and get some ice cream?”

Today is a great day to coach Bobcats, and Fereshetian makes sure his throwers come over to his tablet after each throw to review video of exactly what they are doing right and exactly how they need to improve.

“It sure beats the old days of using an 8 mm camera,” Fereshetian laughs. “We’d get the footage a week later!”

Fakorede is the latest in the great tradition of �ֲ��ý throwers, and the latest to praise his coach’s knack for bringing out the best in their shot put, weight, hammer, discus, and javelin efforts.

“Coach Fresh is a friend, a dad, a brother, and a mentor,” Fakorede said. “He just does it all.”

With a remarkable record of coaching throwers to national achievement, Al Fereshetian has headed the �ֲ��ý men’s cross country and track and field programs since 1995. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ��ý College)

Fereshetian has been doing it all for his �ֲ��ý athletes since 1995, before any of the current Bobcats were born, carrying on — and building upon — the great post-World War II reputation of Walter Slovenski. In 43 years, Slovenski produced 26 All-Americans overall, including five national champions, such as Wayne Pangburn ’66, a national titlist in the hammer throw in 1965 and 1966, whose success was a harbinger of things to come for the Bobcats.

From late in Slovenski’s tenure and continuing through Fereshetian’s — 1991 to present day — �ֲ��ý has produced at least one All-American in either the weight throw, the shot put, the hammer, the discus, or the javelin every year. That is a streak of 28 years and counting. And all told, 16 of the 21 national champions in �ֲ��ý track and field history have been throwers.

�ֲ��ý has 31 varsity sports and among the current head coaches, Fereshetian is the second-longest tenured. His cross country, indoor, and outdoor track teams are regularly among the top handful in New England and, by extension, all of Division III. For example, �ֲ��ý has placed among the top three teams at the New England Division III Outdoor Championships in each of the past nine years.

In March 2016, Al Fereshetian works with Nick Margitza ’16 of Waterville, Maine, and Adedire Fakorede ’18 of Newark, N.J., in their final tuneup before departing for the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships. (Josh Kuckens/�ֲ��ý College)

But to understand his success, first you have to understand him.

Fereshetian was born in Arlington, Mass. The son of first-generation Armenian American doughnut makers, Fereshetian spent his formative years in New Hampshire playing a lot of hockey. In eighth grade, as he started running to stay in shape for hockey, Fereshetian discovered a passion that changed the course of his life.

“Hockey required a lot of equipment, but with running, as long as I had a pair of shorts and a pair of shoes, I could go out and make myself better,” Fereshetian said. “And I did.”

Fereshetian went to Bentley College planning to major in business.

“I would study for an accounting exam for maybe two minutes, but I found myself constantly thinking about running,” Fereshetian said. He decided he wanted to coach, and developed a 10-year plan, to culminate in a Division I head-coaching job by the age of 30.

It was a far cry from taking over Charlie’s Donuts, the family business.

“It was a shock to my parents but they came around and were very supportive,” Fereshetian said. “At that point, when I talked to my parents, I had already worked out my career plan. I knew what I had to do.” ��

Fereshetian transferred to the University of New Hampshire and didn’t wait for graduation to begin coaching. He headed up the track and cross country program at Somersworth High School and volunteered with the UNH women’s track and field team.

For the first time, he focused on the throws, bringing atomic precision to the task.

“I worked nights as a security guard at the Seabrook Station Nuclear Power Plant when it was under construction,” Fereshetian said. “The beautiful thing about working in a facility like that is they have the most amazing polished concrete floors.”

“My job was to stay awake all night. The best way for me to stay awake was to move! So I did a lot of turns throughout the night. It allowed me to get a great feel for the throws. I had to get that feel so I could convey it to the athletes.”

In October 2016, Al Fereshetian exhorts his cross country runners at the end of the Maine State Championship in New Gloucester. Fereshetian, says a colleague, is the rare coach who effectively trains both runners and throwers at a high level. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ��ý College)

Jim Boulanger is in his 33rd year as the head coach at UNH. But when Fereshetian arrived, Boulanger was still an assistant. Boulanger had no background in track at all and Fereshetian, with his running background, was learning to coach the throws. The two became fast friends, bouncing ideas off each other, and growing as coaches together. They are still close.

“Al is a throwback guy like myself,” Boulanger said. “He is not a specialist; he can do anything.”

“I always tell people that if you posted a job description that said ‘cross country and throws coach,’ Al is one of the few people in the country who could do that legitimately at a high level.”

After graduating from UNH in 1983, Fereshetian landed a position at the University of Kansas where he coached, among other athletes, two javelin throwers who qualified for the 1988 United States Olympic Trials.

“I’ll never forget this. My paycheck at Kansas came out to $111.11 per month,” Fereshetian said. “It keeps you humble, but the experience was priceless.”

“The most important people should be the ones you are currently coaching. That has always been my philosophy.”

In 1989, Fereshetian became the head coach of the Division I program at Appalachian State University, where his success eventually earned him a spot in the university’s Athletics Hall of Fame.

He was 30 at the time of his appointment. He had executed his 10-year plan to perfection.

But seven years at Appalachian State convinced Fereshetian he needed a change of scenery. It was time for a new plan.

“Division I is a business, and we were always so focused on the people we were trying to get to replace our current athletes,” Fereshetian said. “Recruiting is critical and it has to happen. But the most important people should be the ones you are currently coaching. That has always been my philosophy.”

�ֲ��ý College and the Division III ethos were the perfect fit.

Fereshetian succeeded Slovenski, and he knew from experience that the best way to replace a legend is not to.

“I heard all the Walt Slovenski stories. But when I started at Appalachian State I heard all the Bob Pollock stories,” Fereshetian said. “There is always some pressure, but the bottom line is, I can’t be Walt Slovenski. I have to be myself.”

The best way to succeed a legend like Walter Slovenski, seen here with his great trackmen Rudy Smith ’60 (left) and John Douglas ’60, is not to. (Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library)

He had the time to be himself thanks to one of �ֲ��ý’ great assistant coaches, Joe Woodhead. A Maine high school coaching legend, he had retired in the mid-1980s and then joined the �ֲ��ý staff under Slovenski. With Woodhead coaching the throwers, Fereshetian was freed up to focus on building his program.

“I knew the throwers were in great hands with Joe,” Fereshetian said. “The truth about track and field is, I love every aspect of it. When I was at Appalachian we had national-caliber triple jumpers, and I loved that.”

“When Al arrived my junior year, the program as a whole shifted.”

Woodhead was a hammer and weight throw expert. When a �ֲ��ý javelin thrower began to open some eyes��— eventual three-time All-American Heather Bumps ’97��— it was time for Fereshetian to take on his first pupil.

“When Al arrived my junior year, the program as a whole shifted,” Bumps said. “My first two years, there was definitely a men’s team and a women’s team. Although we shared the same space, we practiced and competed separately. But when Al got there, he and women’s head coach Carolyn Court worked together to build a feeling that this was one track and field team.”

With his ever-present tablet in hand, Al Fereshetian coaches the hammer throw at the Maine State Men’s Outdoor Track and Field Championships at �ֲ��ý on April 20, 2018. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ��ý College)

Bumps had earned All-America honors as a sophomore the year before Fereshetian arrived. Then in the spring of 1996 under Fereshetian’s tutelage, she set a �ֲ��ý record that still stands today, unleashing a throw of 144 feet, 7 inches.

“His really deep technical knowledge was a big change,” Bumps said. “I had kind of been skating by on natural talent up until I started working with Al. I can’t even imagine how many hours I watched video of my throwing. It was a completely different approach than what I had experienced to that point.”

In 1998, Billy McEvila ’99 won the national title in the 35-pound weight throw, the Bobcats’ first NCAA championship in the throws since Steve Ryan ’83 took home the title in the javelin 15 years earlier.

In the 2000s, �ֲ��ý throwers upped their game to a new level, with Liz Wanless ’04 winning national titles in the indoor and outdoor shot put in 2004. Wanless became the first �ֲ��ý women’s track and field athlete to win a national title in any event.

In February 2009, 16-time All-American Keelin Godsey ’06 hugs longtime throwing coach Joe Woodhead during an event dedicating the throwing circle in Merrill Gym in Woodhead’s honor. Godsey won two national championships in the women’s hammer. (Louisa Demmitt ’09/�ֲ��ý College)

Meanwhile, Keelin Godsey ’06 was becoming the most decorated �ֲ��ý track and field athlete ever. Earning an astounding 16 All-America honors in the throws from 2004—06, Godsey took home two national titles and set an NCAA Division III record in the hammer along the way. He later became the first openly transgender athlete to compete for a spot on the U.S. Olympic team.

Woodhead had his throwers clicking on all cylinders, with Jamie Sawler ’02 (weight and hammer) and Noah Gauthier ’08 (weight) winning national titles during this period as well.

And in February 2009, following extensive renovations to Merrill Gymnasium and Slovenski Track, the throwing area was renamed the “Joseph Woodhead All-American Throwing Area” in a surprise ceremony for the beloved coach.

By then, Fereshetian had been on the periphery of the throwers for more than a decade. “Coach Fresh recognized Coach Woodhead’s success in the throws,” says two-time All-American Chris Murtagh ’11. “There was no need for a change.”

And then, for sad reasons, there was a need for a change when, in February 2010, Woodhead fractured his femur in a collision with a Middlebury runner on the track at MIT.

As he recuperated, Fereshetian stepped in to train the throwers. Three-time All-American Rich McNeil ’10 and six-time All-American Vantiel Elizabeth Duncan ’10 finished their careers on a high note with All-America honors that spring.

But in October 2010, Woodhead died at age 76. “We were heartbroken. He was like a grandfather to me,” Murtagh said.

The throwers dedicated the 2011 season to Woodhead, and Fereshetian introduced a “full-scale, disciplined approach” to being a thrower, Murtagh says, one that “included recording everything on video, nutrition, flexibility, and yoga. He went all in. ”

“We went from being big guys who threw the weight to becoming better all-around athletes.”

“Coach Fresh is a thrower trapped in a runner’s body,” McNeil said, referring to his coach’s outsized, big-man appetite (doughnuts, of course, and ice cream) as well as his focus on technique, which is at the core of a thrower’s world. “Al is a technician. He is always willing to adjust certain things to help his athlete out. He evens names drills after student-athletes.”

Al Fereshetian works with Zack Campbell ’19 of Brooklyn, N.Y., during the Maine State Men’s Outdoor Track and Field Championships at �ֲ��ý on April 21, 2018. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ��ý College)

“There’s technique to everything,” Fereshetian says. “There’s technique to driving, there’s technique to opening a door. And there’s technique to throwing.”

Just the way Fereshetian created his own plans as a young coach, he creates plans for his athletes, and lets them do the execution. He lays the foundation, says Fakorede, then “builds it up, brick by brick.”

Fereshetian’s coaching talents helped David Pless ’13 go from throwing the shot put 46 feet as a first-year to 56 feet and the indoor national title in 2011 as a sophomore.

“Coach Fereshetian is someone who believed in me at all times even when I didn’t believe in myself.”

For the first time in his �ֲ��ý career, Fereshetian got to present the All-America awards in the shot put because his athlete came in first. So Pless got his award from Fereshetian as did fellow All-American Ethan Waldman ’11. Murtagh, too, received All-America honors at the 2011 NCAA Indoor Championships, in the weight throw.

Waldman’s father, Ira ’73, was at the meet. He will never forget looking at Fereshetian as he handed out the awards.

“He puts everything he has into making these athletes perform to the best of their ability,” Waldman said. “You could see the pride on his face. You could see the tears welling up in his eyes.”

“Coach Fereshetian is someone who believed in me at all times even when I didn’t believe in myself.” Pless said. “Through all the All-American awards and national championships, the constant was Fresh.”

In never gets old: In March 2013, and for the third year in a row, Al Fereshetian presents the championship shot-put trophy to David Pless ’13 at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships. (Video courtesy of Ira Waldman ’73)

Fereshetian cares deeply. He once drove Murtagh and Pless from Washington, D.C., to Lewiston, Maine, after their flight back from nationals got diverted. Normally the 600-mile trip takes 10 hours, but Murtagh was graduating the next morning. So they did it in eight.

Fereshetian has been the steward of the �ֲ��ý throwing legacy, but his throwers have also taken it upon themselves to keep it thriving. The passion for the program �ֲ��ý throwers show every day mirrors their coach’s. ��

During his time as a �ֲ��ý thrower, Fakorede was often reminded of his responsibility to carry on the tradition.

Those reminders came as texts, as Fakorede is part of a group chat that includes McNeil, Waldman, Murtagh, Pless, David Hardison ’13, Eric Wainman ’15, Sean Enos ’15 and Nick Margitza ’16. That is a combined 32 All-America awards, in case you are counting. ��

Their strong back-and-forth with Fakorede kept him focused and motivated to do his best every meet. He heard from them whether he set a personal record or if he underperformed.

Enos, who earned nine All-American awards, was a senior when Fakorede was a first-year at �ֲ��ý.

“I was lucky enough to know Chris and Rich in high school, so they told me about the legacy before I even came to �ֲ��ý,” Enos said. “Pless took me under his wing when I got here, teaching me how to prepare myself, and I did the same thing for Adedire.”

Al Fereshetian gathers his athletes during the 50th Maine State Indoor Championships on Feb. 3, 2018, in Merrill Gymnasium. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ��ý College)

Fakorede paid it forward by mentoring first-year John Rex of Andover, Mass. Rex, in turn, broke Fakorede’s freshman record in the hammer.

“I hope he’s the future and face of this program,” Fakorede said. “I’ve been telling him that talent is not the be-all-end-all when it comes to the throws. You have to put in the work inside and outside the circle.”

On that perfect spring day, Fereshetian takes Fakorede and Rex to Dairy Joy following their workout, as promised. They start talking about baseball and Fereshetian brings up one of his favorite pitchers from years ago: Dan Quisenberry.

Neither Fakorede nor Rex has heard of the former Kansas City Royals closer, known for his “submarine” style of pitching.

“Oh,” says Fereshetian taking out his tablet, “you’ve got to see this.”

They look intently, and Fereshetian smiles. ��

“Watch him throw.”

Video: Relive the Blackout Relay — the night the lights went out in Merrill

Aaron Morse — Fri, 09 Feb 2018 15:20:07 +0000

The��Maine State Championships for men’s indoor track and field proceed like any other meet — until the final event.

That’s when the lights go out and the fun begins: the famous 4×800 “Blackout Relay.”

Flashback to 2001. A windstorm rages outside Merrill Gymnasium. All’s well until the final event, the 4×800 relay. Midway through the first lap, there’s a brief power outage, leading to “one of the most unusual races in state meet history,” as then-�ֲ��ý Sports Information Director Adam Levin reported.

The outage “plung[ed] the facility into darkness,” Levin said. “When power came back several seconds later, the track was still mostly dark…. The halogen lamps that illuminate the main track, requiring minutes to brighten, remained dark.”

After a brief attempt to stop the race, officials let it continue. As head coach Al Fereshetian said then, “I had never seen anything like that in my life. But once those runners decided to continue, there was no stopping them….Everyone said it was the most fun they have had at a track meet in a long time.”

A tradition was born, and since then the Bobcats and their Maine opponents always turn off the lights for the meet-ending 4×800.

Fereshetian’s tune hasn’t changed since 2001. “It’s crazy. It really is the highlight of the meet and everybody loves it. It really doesn’t matter how it turns out, it’s just the atmosphere that’s created and just the competitive spirit that shows up.”

The current Bobcats embrace the tradition as a memorable part of what it means to be a �ֲ��ý track athlete.

Senior captain Rob Flynn of��Bedford, N.H. sums up the experience. “Thinking back on my four years here and all of the greats before me that have been able to run in that event , it’s a great group of guys, and I am very honored to be a part of that.”

‘Tremendous teammate’ Rob Gomez ’05 forgoes race victory to help a fallen runner

Jay Burns — Thu, 10 Aug 2017 18:50:27 +0000

“That’s Robbie,” says Al Fereshetian.

Fereshetian, head coach of men’s cross country and track and field at �ֲ��ý, was talking about Rob Gomez ’05 and the acclaim his former runner has earned for creating a defining moment at a prestigious Maine road race on Aug. 5.

With the finish line of the 10-kilometer TD Bank Beach to Beacon race in sight, Gomez slowed up to help a stricken fellow runner, Jesse Orach, get up and finish the race. Grimacing as he steadied Orach’s nearly dead weight, Gomez kept Orach, who was suffering from heat stroke, upright as he lurched the last few yards.

Although the pair were running in 22nd and 23rd place overall at the time, the stakes were still sky-high: Whoever finished ahead of the other would win the coveted men’s Maine-resident division of the race. And as they came to finish, Gomez stopped short and let Orach literally fall into first place. Then Gomez walked over the finish line, second.

Rob Gomez ’05 speaks to the Maine media after the Beach to Beacon on Aug. 5, 2017. (Photograph by Ann Kaplan)

The win was Orach’s second straight in the Maine division. For Gomez, who lives in Windham, the runner-up Maine finish was his best in 10 tries.

For helping the fallen runner, Gomez is being widely praised as a standup guy, and his deed — call it smart sportsmanship — has sizzled through social media and the news media.

The has been shared 643 times, prompting 5,895 likes/loves/wows and attracting 229 comments. An Associated Press story has run in all 50 U.S. states and been seen by millions of readers.

Context matters, and this wasn’t your typical community road race filled with baby strollers and dogs. Founded by Olympic-gold marathoner Joan Benoit Samuelson, the Beach to Beacon attracts 6,800-plus runners each year, including Olympians and world champions who headline the 35-runner professional field.

“Rob respects and honors his sport,” Fereshetian says. “He knows exactly who he’s racing against.”

And Gomez and Orach, both native Mainers, weren’t chugging along in 4,001st and 4002nd place, either.

Orach, a 2017 graduate of the University of Maine, was one of New England’s best college runners, and Gomez has been a top Maine road racer in recent years. He won the 2013 Maine Marathon and has two top-40 finishes at the Boston Marathon.

“Rob was running very, very well,” says Fereshetian. “His time, 31:31, is very fast.”

Coming around a final bend before the home stretch, Gomez only had a second or two to see that it was Orach on the ground and even less time to decide to pull him up. Still, his decision was an informed one.

Stopping just short of the finish line, Gomez releases Orach. (Photograph by Ann Kaplan)

The pair nears the finish line, Gomez grimacing as he guides Orach. (Photograph by Ann Kaplan)

Rob Gomez '05 (right) helps a faltering Jesse Orach as they near the finish line of the Beach to Beacon on Aug. 5. (Photograph by Ann Kaplan)

Orach tumbles over the finish line to capture first place in the Maine-resident division of the race. (Photograph by Ann Kaplan)

“Rob respects and honors his sport,” Fereshetian says. “He knows exactly who he’s racing against. He and Jesse had just met the day before, but Rob knows exactly who Jesse is, and he know Jesse’s not just some guy he’s running next to.”

Like many great competitors, Gomez is a student of his sport. “Going into the race, you understand the runner’s body of work. You understand what he’s done,” Gomez says. “Jesse had a very good spring track year at UMaine. He was the favorite, and I was maybe his best competition.”

The race played out that way. “The first mile, I stuck with him,” Gomez says. “Then he pulled away. As a runner, I’ve done enough of these to know that it wasn’t going to be my day.”

Gomez looks at it this way. “Jesse’s performance needed to get the respect that it deserved.” Had Gomez passed Orach by, the result would “have been a hollow victory. I would have lamented the fact that I had won; it would have left a bad taste had I won in that manner.”

Since Saturday, Gomez has played out other scenarios in his mind. Of course, he’d have “no problem beating the pants off him in normal fashion.” And if the two had been neck and neck, “if I had fought to be that close, and if it was my race to win, I would have won it” and let Orach fall by the wayside.

“But within 100 yards from the finish [helping him] was the only thing to do. Because I believed, and still believe, that he had won the race.”

“Rob deserves a medal for what he did, but knowing Rob, he’d never wear it.”

Gomez has downplayed what he did, telling WCSH-TV that “I’m just a normal representative of what the Maine running community is all about,” and telling the Portland Press Herald that “maybe they don’t carry someone, but everyone wants others to succeed.”

Though he professes normalcy, Gomez does run to the beat of a different drummer, and he’s well-known for his distinctively generous, intense, and modest demeanor. As Samuelson told me, “Rob deserves a medal for what he did, but knowing Rob, he’d never wear it.”

“He’s very intense and focused about everything, and he was also one of the biggest supporters and cheerleaders for everyone on our team,” says Mike Downing ’05, a fellow runner at �ֲ��ý who now owns on Maine’s Upper Shin Pond.

And while generous acts like Gomez’s occur on occasion in road races, “it’s not going to happen in most running races,” Fereshetian says. When it does happen, “it’s usually the result of the people and personalities involved,” Fereshetian suggests.

Rob Gomez ’05 runs for �ֲ��ý as a sophomore in 2002. (Daryn Slover for �ֲ��ý College)

In that sense, “Rob was a tremendous teammate who cared deeply about the guys on our team,” Fereshetian says. “And I’m sure his teammates would say there wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do for them.”

Downing agrees. “Rob is a great person and friend, and what he did has to do with the person he is.” In other words, the choice to help Orach is not a one-size-fits-all decision. “While it’s hard to say what I would have done, I would have probably decided to win the race and let the medical staff handle the situation,” says Downing. Alluding to the fact that runners can be DQ’d for helping or being helped, Downing believes that approach would be “the fair thing to do for everyone involved in the race.”

To be sure, Gomez’s deed probably reflects a mixture of Gomez’s personality and the culture of long-distance running, which is marked as much by camaraderie as by solo effort.

Beginning in high school and continuing to college, runners, especially cross country runners, “gain a strong sense of team,” Fereshetian says. After college, “in open road races, the only way to get that fellowship and that camaraderie is to recognize that in some form or another, that competitor next to you is your teammate, too. And I think that Rob carries that with him.”

A native of Waldoboro, Gomez majored in chemistry at �ֲ��ý and was inducted into the Sigma Xi scientific research society as a senior. Today, he’s senior manufacturing engineer at General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems in Saco. Interestingly, Orach is also an engineer, at the Verso paper mill in Jay, Maine.

For his part, Orach, whose post-race body core temperature was reported to be 107.3 degrees, accepted his victory with grace. “I’m speechless with what he did,” he told the Press Herald, especially because the duo “was kind of vying for that No. 1 Mainer spot, and for him to give that up for me is pretty remarkable.” A bit more than bragging rights was at stake. Orach gets $1,000 for the win, and Gomez $500 for second. (Orach has said he wants Beach to Beacon to combine and split the first and second prize money evenly between the two.)

Joan Samuelson, a Bowdoin grad, parent of a 2010 �ֲ��ý alumna, and recipient of a �ֲ��ý honorary degree in 2015, addressed the intersection of winning and sportsmanship. Gomez’ gesture both epitomizes and transcends the sport, she says. “It showcases the very best of the human spirit.”

To be sure, “winning a race is a feather in one’s cap,” she says. “But carrying one to victory deserves a medal of honor that only a few people earn during their lifetime. Rob’s contributions to our sport should have been heralded long ago. His mentoring of young and aspiring athletes has been steadfast, unyielding, passionate, and inspiring.”

In addition to his day job at General Dynamics, Gomez has a running business,, which provides online coaching and training plans for runners. He’s served as vice president and president of the board for Dirigo Racing Club, a premier road-racing club.

“At �ֲ��ý, Rob loved running with a passion. And it’s great to see him being so engaged in the running community,” Fereshetian says.

Audio: Our Bobcats’ journey to the NCAA championships

Aaron Morse — Fri, 14 Apr 2017 16:44:18 +0000

When the �ֲ��ý track and field teams headed to Chicagoland for last month’s NCAA Division III Indoor Championships, we were there to listen in on the Bobcats’ great adventure. We heard about great professors back at �ֲ��ý, their first taste of real deep-dish pizza, and, of course, the thrilling competition, including senior Allison Hill’s amazing journey to an All-America finish. Take a listen:

Video: All-Americans and friends, these throwers ‘like to scrap a little,’ too

Aaron Morse — Fri, 22 Apr 2016 17:09:48 +0000

�ֲ��ý track and field throwers have been winning national titles and earning All-America honors since 1935.

Nick Margitza ’16 of Waterville, Maine, and Adedire Fakorede ’18 of Newark, N.J., are �ֲ��ý’ latest All-America throwers, and they talk about their friendship, the alumni tradition that encourages them, and how they “like to scrap a little, to get riled up.”

Video: 1935 NCAA hammer champ Anton Kishon ’37 shows his form

Jay Burns — Fri, 18 Mar 2016 14:21:59 +0000

“I’d take him on the team right now!”

So said Al Fereshetian, men’s track and field coach, after seeing this circa-1935 film clip of famed �ֲ��ý thrower Anton “Tony” Kishon ’37 in action, probably on Garcelon Field.

“His form and technique are good,” Fereshetian says. “He’s relaxed and fluid. He’s not a big guy, which means he had to be better technically than others.”

Kishon won the hammer throw at the 1935 NCAA outdoor championships, held at Berkeley’s Edwards Stadium.

If there’s a difference in throwing style since the 1930s, says Fereshetian, it’s the footwork, which is key to the speed of the hammer.

Today, a Fereshetian-coached thrower would, within each turn, try to spend more time with both feet in contact with the ground. “That would mean ‘catching’ the ball earlier and rotating the right foot deeper into the turn before it leaves the ground.”

Morning Sentinel profiles sprinter Spofford ’15, ‘fast and getting faster’

Jay Burns — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 22:06:52 +0000

Maine’s Morning Sentinel profiles record-holding sprinter Isaiah Spofford ’15 of Waterville, who’s ready to make the leap to one of the longer sprint distances this year.

Record-holding sprinter Isaiah Spofford ’15 will try the 400 meters this spring.
Photo by Tom Leonard ’78.

Spofford holds the �ֲ��ý record in the 60-meter dash, 7.09 seconds. While the 60-meter event is only a few years old, head coach Al Fereshetian points out that Spofford’s 55 time would be 10th-best in �ֲ��ý history.

The point, Fereshetian , is that Spofford is fast and getting faster. “Our expectations are very high. He put in a fantastic fall of training.”

Spofford is runninf the 60- and 200-meter sprints this winter, then will add the 400 during the outdoor season. “Ever since I was a sophomore in high school, people have told me I’ll ease into the 400,” Spofford tells Lazarczyk. “This year I think it’s going to happen.”

Video: ‘In the Running’ — men’s cross country at NCAA Championships

�ֲ��ý News — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 14:33:42 +0000

Featuring compelling race-day footage, this video story captures the mindset of the �ֲ��ý men’s team in its run-up to the NCAA Division III Championship meet in Terre Haute, Ind., on Nov. 17.

The Bobcats finished sixth at the meet, their best performance ever at nationals.

The video was produced by �ֲ��ý photographer and videographer Mike Bradley, himself a former collegiate runner.

Men's cross country ninth, women's soccer 21st in national polls

�ֲ��ý News — Wed, 20 Oct 2004 17:41:09 +0000

The �ֲ��ý College men’s cross country team is ranked ninth nationally among NCAA Division III institutions, and the women’s soccer team made its debut in the national polls on Tuesday, ranking 21st.

The men’s cross country team has won three meets this season, including the State of Maine championship last weekend. The Bobcats’ lone finish outside of first came at the Open New England Championships, where �ֲ��ý was 12th overall and fourth among D-III schools. The Bobcats have been ranked nationally all season, with this week’s ranking the highest in the tenure of head coach Al Fereshetian, in his ninth season at �ֲ��ý.

The women’s soccer team is ranked third in New England, moving up from sixth last week. The Bobcats, now 8-2-1 overall, 3-2-1 NESCAC, posted a 6-0 win over Skidmore and a 4-0 win over Wesleyan last week. With three games remaining in the regular season, �ֲ��ý sits in fourth in the NESCAC standings.

The men’s soccer team is also regionally ranked, sitting in ninth place in the New England polls. The Bobcats, who tied Wesleyan 1-1 on Saturday, are 7-2-1, 2-2-1 and are in sixth place in the conference standings with four games remaining.

Both soccer teams play a pair of road games this week, facing Trinity on Wednesday and Middlebury on Saturday. The men’s cross country team has this weekend off, but will compete for the NESCAC title next weekend at Colby.

Visit the for the latest information on �ֲ��ý varsity sports.