Picking up right where he left off at the end of the indoor track and field season, Chris Brown ’12 continued to pick up wins in the UAA. In the previous season, Brown earned his first All-American status at the NCAA Championships. Now in the outdoor track and field season, Brown will lead a group of Judges in the University Athletic Association championships hosted by Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh from April 27 to 29.
Currently, Brown is ranked in the top 20 among all Division III athletes in two events: the 800-meter run and the 1,500-meter run. On April 7, at UMass Lowell’s George Davis Invitational, Brown won the 800-meter run with a time of 1:53.13. His time was better than those of 10 other competitors from Division I and Division II schools. At the moment, this time is ranked the 17th fastest in the event in Division III and is the fastest time in the UAA.
Additionally, on April 14, in a quad meet at Dartmouth College, Brown won the 1,500-meter race with a lifetime best time of 3:50, more than four seconds faster than the closest competitor. At the same event, Alex Kramer ’13 earned a fourth place finish with a time of 3:57.35, which is ranked 39th in Division III and third in the UAA.
At the UAA championships, the Judges are hopeful that Vincent Asante ’14 will have another strong showing. Asante, the 2011 UAA rookie of the year, placed fourth in the 100-meter dash at Dartmouth with a time of 11.15 seconds and finished in third in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.83 seconds. Currently, Asante is ranked fourth in the UAA in the 100-meter dash and seventh in the 200-meter dash.
Furthermore, Brandeis has two more runners ranked in the Top 10 of the UAA this season. Mik Kern ’13 will join Brown in the 800-meter run at the UAA Championships. Kern is currently ranked sixth after posting a time of 1:57.31 at Dartmouth where he earned third place. Ed Colvin ’14 is also ranked sixth in the UAA in the 5,000-meter run dating back to his first place finish at the Tufts Snowflake Classic on March 31 where he posted a time of 15:08.49.
In the field events, Brandeis has enjoyed strong showings from its first-years, having already earned four Top 10 finishes and another two Top 10 performances from the sophomore class. Jeffrey Maser ’15 is currently ranked fourth in the high jump with a mark of 5’ 11.75” that was set at the Tufts Snowflake Classic. Kensai Hughes ’14 is ranked fourth in the long jump with a career-best performance of 6.43 meters set at Dartmouth while Alex Schmidt ’14 is currently ranked eighth in the long jump with a mark of 6.24 meters set at Tufts. In the javelin, Jonathan Gilman ’15 and Jacob Wilhoite ’15 are ranked fifth and ninth respectively in the UAA. At the Stonehill Skyhawk Invitational on March 14, Gilman threw the javelin 48.79 meters while at the UMass Lowell meet, Wilhoite threw the Javelin for 45.90 meters. Viet Tran ’15 is currently ranked eighth in the triple jump with a mark of 12.37 meters set at the UMass Lowell event.
