MIDDLEBURY, Vt. - The Bowdoin men's track and field team placed first while the women earned second place at the Panther Invitational hosted by Middlebury College this weekend.

The Bowdoin men totaled 157.5 points to defeat the host Panthers (137.33) and Springfield (117.16). The Middlebury women earned first place with 147 points to edge the Polar Bears (138) and Springfield (109).

The Polar Bear men used a balanced effort that featured nine different first-place finishes. On the track, Colin Fong won the 800 meters (1:56.23), Coby Horowitz took the 1500 meters (3:55.25), Sam Chick won the 400 meter hurdles (54.82) and James Boeding placed first in the 3000 meter steeplechase (9:32.21). In the field events, Simon Ward won the pole vault (4.30 meters), David Black took the long jump (6.53 meters), Chris Martin won the triple jump (13.42 meters) and Anthony Tedesco took the discus throw (38.16 meters). Eliot Bass was the lone competitor in the decathlon and totaled 5,021 points to earn seven team points for Bowdoin.

On the women's side, Laura Peterson and Katherine Harmon each won two events to lead the way. Peterson took wins in the long jump (5.40 meters) and the triple jump (11.03 meters) while Harmon earned victories in the discus throw (36.68 meters) and hammer throw (44.94 meters). Anna Ackerman broke the school record with a time of 11:20.88 in winning the 3000 meter steeplechase. Other first place finishes on the track included Olivia MacKenzie in the 5000 meters (18.27.06) and Emily Clark in the 400 meter hurdles (1:07.21). In the field events, Erin Silva won the pole vault (3.30 meters) and Randi London took the shot put (11.37 meters).

The Bowdoin track teams will return to action at the UNH Wildcat Invitational next Saturday at 11:00 a.m.