The Brandeis track and field teams traveled to Atlanta, Georgia, to compete in the UAA Outdoor Track and Field Conference Championships on Saturday, April 27 through Sunday, April 28. Both teams finished the weekend at sixth place in the eight-team conference.
The men, at 71 points, were just four points behind NYU’s fifth place in a closely contested conference meet. The women were securely in sixth place, earning 59 points to the seventh place finisher NYU’s 21 points.
Brandeis’s Emily Bryson ’19 topped off her final UAA conference meet with her eleventh and twelfth UAA Conference titles. Leading the Judges, the decorated senior won the outdoor 1,500-meter run title by four seconds with a time of 4:37.94. E. Bryson returned to the track again for the 5,000-meter run and sped to her fastest time of the season in the event with a time of 17:35.61, nearly 25 seconds faster than the runner up in the event.
Upon E. Bryson’s return to Brandeis, she was presented with the Max I. Silber Award for Outstanding Female Athlete in the class of 2019.
E. Bryson was not alone in her achievements at the outdoor track and field conference meet. E. Bryson’s twin sister, Julia Bryson ’19 ran the 1,500-meter race and earned sixth place finish with a time of 4:44.01 while their younger teammate Andrea Bolduc ’21 came in at eighth in the same race with a time of 4:45.57.
Doyin Ogundiran ’19, another historically consistent high performer for the Judges, secured her best UAA finish in her Brandeis career. Running the 800-meter race in 2:13.20, Ogundiran finished in second place, and recorded the eleventh fastest finish in Division III for the 2019 season.
For the men, Regan Charie ’19 finalized his career with some impressive UAA conference performances. He received his third UAA conference honor in men’s sprints, finishing in third place for the 100-meter event with a time of 11.10 seconds.
Charie secured a second time on the podium by anchoring Brandeis’ 4×100-meter relay. The Brandeis squad of Churchill Perry ’20, Michael Kroker ’19, Jacob Ward ’21 and Charie raced to another third place finish, crossing the finish line at 42.89 seconds.
During the field events, Brandeis athletes stepped onto the podium to accept UAA honors at three of the four events. In the discus throw, Scott Grote ’19 earned his fourth overall UAA honor by throwing 49.65 meters, holding the UAA record for a short time until his throw was surpassed by a thrower from Carnegie Mellon. Grote earned the second place designation. Perry also earned runner-up standing for the triple jump and Breylen Ammen ’21 earned third in the javelin throw.
For Brandeis track and field, the Judges have quite a bit more of their season to go. Without much of a break, Brandeis will return to the track to compete in the Division III New England Regional Championship in a two-day event on Friday, May 4 and Saturday, May 5. Williams College will host the event in Williamstown, Massachusetts.
The Judges will keep an eye out for any individual NCAA national bids, which will be hosted by the Spire Institute in Geneva, Ohio, from Thursday, May 23 to Saturday, May 25.
