The Brandeis track and field teams hosted their first home meet of the season, the Reggie Poyau Memorial Invitational, honoring a Brandeis runner of the same name who tragically drowned in May 2003 while studying abroad in Senegal. Both teams honored him in the best way they could: having an outstanding performance. The women finished first of six teams while the men took fourth out of seven.
“The team did really well, it was really impressive,” co-captain Suzy Bernier ’10 told The Hoot. “The girls team got second last year and this year we won, so it was great to see that improvement.”
In al,l the women had five individual winners as well as coming in first in the 3,200-meter relay. Julia Alpaio ’10 finished first in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:20.84 and classmate Beth Pisarik edged out an Amherst runner in the 1,000-meter run by four-tenths of a second with a time of 3:01.47. Pisarik was also on the triumphant relay team along with Erin Bisceglia ’12, Jess Girard ’10, and Hannah Lindholm ’11. The group finished with a time of 9:47.21.
Grayce Selig ’11 captured first in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 10:11.72 followed by teammates Kate Warwick ’12 and Ally Connolly ’10 to claim the top three spots.
Co-captain Lucia Capano ’11 competed in four events on the day and came out on top in three. Capano won the 55-meter dash by seven-hundredths of a second, coming in at 7.60 seconds as well as the long jump where she had a distance of 5.30 meters, or 17 feet, 4 ¾ inches. She also ran the lead leg in the 1,600-meter relay that placed second with a time of 4:19.00.
Her most exciting event by far was the triple jump where she beat out her nearest competitor by over a foot with a leap of 11.27 meters, or 36 feet, 11 ¾ inches. This has qualified her for her first career NCAA championship. She was named one of the University Athletic Association Athletes of the Week for her accomplishments.
Capano was not the only Brandeis competitor to qualify for the NCAA championship. In Bernier’s only event on the day, the high jump, she set a new school record and ensured her first trip to the national championship.
“It was really exciting!” Bernier told The Hoot. “It will be my first trip to the NCAA, teammates have gone before me so this is great. I’m so happy Lucia made it, too. She had a great day.”
Bernier’s jump of 1.67 meters (5 feet, 5 ¼ inches), which won the event by four inches, broke the school record by 0.02 meters.
“I want to get a higher height,” Bernier explained. “I only set the school record by half an inch and I want to shatter it.”
According to Bernier, the first individual race, the men’s 3,000 meter, really set the pace for the rest of the day. Devon Holgate ’11 had a come from behind win in the event with a time of 8:44.45.
“Devon was behind until the last 150 and in the last 50 he just went right past the kid,” Bernier explained. “It was like he said, ‘We’re dominating.’”
Holgate was one of four on the men’s team to take first place. Brian Foley ’13 won the 400-meter dash by three-hundredths of a second with a time of 51.44 while Aaron Udel ’10 came in first in the 800-meter at 2:00.14. Ben Bray ’11 completed the mile in 4:23.23 and walked away the winner.
The Judges are next in action in Medford on Saturday when they will compete in the Tufts Invitational. Their next home meet will be the UAA Championships on Friday March 5 through Saturday March 6.
“Hopefully [our success at this home meet] will set the tone for UAAs,” Bernier told The Hoot, adding that hosting the event “is going to be amazing.”
