The Men’s and Women’s Track and Field teams opened up their spring season this past Saturday as they competed at the Stonehill Skyhawk Track and Field Invitational. The weather was cold and damp throughout much of the day, but the Judges had relatively good individual performances nonetheless. The men eventually claimed tenth place of the twelve teams competing at the meet on Saturday. The competition was strong and included such squads as Boston College and Northeaster University. The women were able to fare somewhat better. They finished in 8th place out of the 11 teams competing on the women’s side this Saturday.
The men performed well both in the sprints and the longer distance events. Co-Captain Patrick Gregoire ’09 was able to place in the top ten in both the 100-meter and 200-meter events, putting the Judges on the scoreboard in the short sprints. Teammate Ned Crowley ’10 also fared well in the 400-meter event as he finished in less than 52 seconds to place 4th in the event. Brandeis had a strong showing in the 1500-meter event as Matt Jennings ’09, Mike Stone ’09, and Ben Bray ’11 all finished around 4:05 minutes to place 6th, 7th and 8th respectively. Freshman Dan Anastos ’11 competed in the 10k event and was able to place first. He finished with a time of 15 minutes and 38 seconds, a full 12 seconds ahead of his closest opponent. He also claimed the arena record in the event as this was the first home meet at Stonehill’s new track stadium. The team got disqualified in the 4 by 100-meter event, but still had a strong showing on the track to bring them to a 10th place finish among the strong competition.
The women also did well this past weekend at their season opener on Saturday. In the sprints, Olivia Alford ’08 was able to place 4th in the 400-meter event, finishing with a time of just over 60 seconds. First year Marie Lemay ’11 had a great finish in the 800-meter run, placing fifth with a time of 2 minutes and 22 seconds. Teammate Grayce Selig ’11 almost broke her personal record in the 1500 meter run; she finished with a time of 4 minutes and 56 seconds, enough to place 3rd overall in the event. Katy Agule ’09 was also able to place fifth in the 3-kilometer steeplechase, an event that combines a track run, hurdles, and jumping over a water ditch each lap. She placed fifth with a time just under 12 minutes. In the jumps, Suzanne Bernier ’10 and Bessie Bianco ’08 both placed fifth with a jump of just under 5 feet. Desiree Murphy ‘10 also put the Judges on the map in the throwing events with a third place finish in the discus. She finished with a hurl of just under 113 feet, ranking high among the 16 competitors in the event. The women exhibited strength at the meet this past Saturday.
Teammates had mixed comments about their performance this Saturday. “As the meet this past weekend was our first competition of the outdoor season, I feel that we showed pretty solidly,” explained Co-Captain Katy Agule ’09 about the recent competition. She also saw the Stonehill Invitational as a warm-up for later competitions. “With a few more workouts, I think that we should running a lot better once the championship season rolls around starting with UAAs in 2 weeks.” She also said that the team’s next meet “at UMass-Lowell should give us one more time to race well before UAAs. I think we’re all very excited about our potential for this season as we are all feeling pretty strong.”
Teamate Marie Lemay ’11 described the recent competition in her own words. “Overall, the meet was pretty laidback,” said Lemay. She continued by saying, “We were looking to get comfortable, to get our first meet out of the way so we would be ready to perform when it really mattered. The weather held out, so everyone was able to have solid performances.”
The Judges will travel to the UMass-Lowell Invitational next weekend before going to the UAA Championships the weekend after that. This competition served as a prep meet for the squads so that they can get ready for future competitions that are just around the corner.
