That’s the story of the Bates College Invitational. The Bobcats nearly produced a clean sweep on the Androscoggin River Sunday. Bates won all but one race in a rowing event featuring teams from Middlebury, UMass and the University of New Hampshire.

The hardest feat for the Bobcats might have been getting the event organized and ready to race. With spring taking its sweet old time, it wasn’t until Saturday morning that the river was clear enough of ice to make the course fit for competition.

“We just got ourselves set up here (Saturday),” Bates rowing coach Peter Steenstra said. “Saturday morning was our only practice here before the race. It was chain saws and poles and whatever we had to do to get the ice to move. It’s been three straight days trying to get this set up.”

It was worth the effort. Bates won all but the men’s varsity four Sunday and looked impressive winning all the other races.

“It was a successful day for all the crews,” Steenstra said. “There were really rough conditions early on in the morning with the cold and the win picking up earlier than we thought.  Everybody did really well without a lot of preparation. They were able to execute their races pretty well.”

Bates raced last weekend and had a practice Monday but didn’t take the water again until Saturday morning. With exams this past week, it was hard to focus on racing, let alone find time and opportunity to get on the water.

“We just wanted to get out here and get another one or two races in, just to get that practice in coming into May,” women’s senior captain Mallory Ward, whose squad is ranked No. 3 nationally, said. “Anytime you get on the water, we get better and better.”

Ward raced in the women’s varsity eight and the varsity four. The V8 team won in 7:17.6, beating Middlebury, which finished in 7:29.3. Even more impressive was the V4 team, which won in 7:53.3. UNH was a distant second in 8:26.4.

“We don’t do a lot of V4 work,” Ward said. “So when we get put into this race, we get thrown in and we go do it, but it’s always a lot of fun to do.”

The women also won the novice four in 8:50.5. UNH was second in 9:32.2. The women’s 2 V8 won in 7:39.0. Another Bates squad took second in 7:45.8, while Middlebury finished in 8:25.4. The women’s N8 won in 8:04.6, followed by Middlebury in 8:12.7.

“It’s nice to see how much depth we have all the way from V1 all the way to novice,” Ward said.

Among the highlights for the men was the win in the V8. Bates won in 6:22.9. UNH was close behind in 6:33.4.

“We were a little nervous after seeing results from Saturday,” said men’s captain Nick Flynn, who raced in the V8 and V4. “UNH beat WPI by two seconds. We only beat (WPI) by four seconds. We were ready for a fight. They came out really fast in the first 1,000. Then we picked up speed as they slowed down. So it was a good race.”

The Bates men also won the N4 with a come-from-behind victory in 8:16.7. UNH was second in 8:19.4 In the 2V8, Bates won in 6:42.7. UMass finished in 6:57.9. Bates also won the 3V/N8 race in 5:45.0. UNH was second in 5:57.2.

Middlebury won the men’s V4 in 6:58.3. Bates was second in 7:15.7.

We almost swept,” Flynn said. “We lost to Middlebury in the V4, but other than that, it was a fantastic day.”

Steenstra was pleased with the performances Sunday and noted the efforts of the women’s V4 win and the victory by the men’s V8.

“The cleanest two crews that we had out there was that women’s varsity four that finished that last race,” Steenstra said. “That’s a senior four and a very experienced group of women. They’d never been together in a four, but they just raced superbly considering they’d never been in a boat together.

“The men’s varsity eight really pulled together, which was nice to see. Without having a lot of practice beforehand, it was good to see them come together nicely.”

Bates races  Saturday at MIT, then hosts the President’s Cup Regatta next Sunday.

kmills@sunjournal.com