Colby teams competed in track and field for decades before the sport achieved varsity status in 1969. Men's indoor and outdoor track and field boasts a two-time Olympian and a current head coach who won Colby's first NCAA title in any sport.
Sebsibe Mamo '70 participated in the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics and was at the 1968 Mexico City Summer Olympic Games. Mamo still owns the Colby record for the 800-meter run (1:49.9), set in 1968, and he was a Division I All-American in the two-mile run in 1968.
Todd Coffin '83 is the current Colby men's cross-country and track and field coach. He became the College's first national champion when he won the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the NCAA outdoor meet in 1983. Coffin still holds the school record in the event at 8:55.48.
Jamie Brewster '00 was a three-time NCAA champion for Colby in the hammer throw. He won in 1997, 1998, and 2000 and finished third in 1999 to earn All-America honors all four years at Colby.
Colby has had 13 athletes garner 24 All-America honors in track and field since 1977.
In its history since becoming a varsity sport in the 1978-79 academic year, Colby women's track and field counts 56 All-Americans and 100 NCAA national qualifiers.
Both track and field teams consistently finish among the top teams in the NESCAC and New England Division III. The outdoor track team won four straight NESCAC championships from 1982 to 1985 and had a dual meet record of 44-4 during that time. Current head coach Deb Aitken, now in her 22nd year at Colby, also led the Mules to a New England Division III outdoor title in 1990. Aitken has scored several second-place finishes in the New England Division III meet.
The 1985 indoor track team placed third at the NCAA Championships. The Mules also won three straight New England Division III titles in 1989, 1990, and 1991. The 2003 squad had its second-best team finish with an eighth at the NCAA meet.
Cynthia Pomerleau '97 won an NCAA championship in the heptathlon during the 1997 outdoor season. Michelle Severance '94 was a six-time All-American during her career in the 3,000-, 5,000-, and 10,000-meter runs. Debbie MacWalter '91 was a five-time All-American in the javelin and the heptathlon.
