Since The Hoot’s last publication, the Brandeis Judges track and field team competed in two events. Firstly, on April 8, the team traveled to Amherst, Massachusetts to participate in the Amherst Spring Fling hosted by Ahmerst College. Then, on April 16, the athletes made their way to Northampton, MA to compete in Smith College’s Carla Coffey Invitational. At Amherst, according to the Brandeis Judges recap, the team set over 30 personal records (PRs), with “multiple Judges [qualifying] for the [Division III] New England Regional Championships.” At the Carla Coffey Invitational, the men’s team placed sixth out of 10 teams, while the women’s team placed sixth out of 12 teams.
At Amherst, both the men’s and women’s team broke numerous PRs and other records. Most notably, Smiley Huynh ’24 set a Brandeis record in the pole vault event, jumping 3.65 meters and reaching third place. The record had previously been held by Jane Farrell ’06, who set it in 2005. With this, Huynh reached the 16th rank in Division III. Shaniece Nugent ’26 won the triple jump event, setting a new PR of 11.60 meters and reaching the 20th rank in Division III. Sadie Harrow ’27 and Calli Morvay ’26 both broke PRs in the 5,000 meter (5K) race with times of 18:26.26 (seventh place) and 19:53.89 (15th place) respectively. In the 1500-meter race, Lizzy Reynolds ’24 reached 21st place with a season-best time of 5:00.30. Kyra Au ’25 placed 23rd with a PR time of 5:01.71 while Katriona Briggs ’26 placed 26th with a time of 5:08.37 in her career-first 1500. Zada Forde ’25 and Shayna Zavell ’27 both hit new PRs in the 1500, reaching times of 5:10.26 (28th place) and 5:22.00 (35th place) respectively. In the 100-meter hurdles, Alya Campbell ’24 placed sixth with a season-best time of 15.43 seconds, reaching the 59th rank in Division III. In the 400-meter hurdles, Olivia Zarzycki ’24 placed fourth with a time of 1:06.84—a season best—while Natalie Liapis ’27 placed sixth with a PR time of 1:07.99 and Hannah Bohbot-Dridi ’25 placed eighth with a time of 1:08.51—also a season best. Nugent also placed 10th in the 100-meter race, breaking her PR with a time of 13.04. Campbell placed 9th in the 200-meter race with a time of 26.62 seconds, with Elizabeth Korn ’24 just behind in 10th with a time of 26.87 seconds. In the shot put, Ianna Gilbert ’24 placed 18th with a PR of 9.42 meters, while Sophie Segal ’27 reached 10th place in the high jump with a PR of 1.57 meters. In the discus throw, Emma Liu ’26 hit a season best of 29.50 meters, while Kate Hurlbert ’25 and Diane Meyer ’26 both set new PRs with 27.62 meters and 27.74 meters respectively. Finally, the Judges reached third place in the 4×100-meter relay event with a time of 4:08.42 set by the team of Bohbot-Dridi, Nugent, Korn and Zarzycki.
On the men’s end at Amherst, TJ Carleo reached the 29th rank in Division III with a 3:53.96 PR in the 1500-meter race. Also in the 1500, Garret Rieden ’26 (4:06.45, 30th place), Henry Nguyen ’24 (4:07.05, 31st place), Lucas Dia ’25 (4:15.07), Dylan Whalen ’25 (4:41.03, 55th place) and Erik Lopez ’25 (4:46.19, 57th place) all hit individual PRs. In the steeplechase, Dashiell Janicki ’25 reached fourth place with a PR time of 9:55.46 while Hugh Licklider ’27 reached sixth with a time of 10:00.22 in his first steeplechase event. In the 100-meter race, Ian Dyer ’27, Nana Kudom ’27 and Lin Lin Hutchinson ’25 all reached PRs, with times of 11.78 seconds (39th place), 12.31 seconds (46th place) and 12.75 seconds (48th place) respectively. Dylan Zhao ’26 reached a PR time of 2:04.24 in the 800-meter race. In the 200-meter race, Matthew Yue ’26, Sam Rosen ’27 and Kudom all reached PRs as well, attaining times of 23.19 seconds (29th place), 24.07 seconds (48th place) and 24.94 seconds (53rd place) respectively. Finally, Cam Peirce ’25 reached 17th place in the discus throw event with a PR of 36.28.
At the Carla Coffey Invitational, the women’s 5K saw Anna Batelli ’25 reach fifth place with a PR time of 18:29.88. Au reached a PR 10th place, while Briggs and Zavell also reached PRs in fourth and 10th place in the unseeded heat. Campbell placed third in the 100-meter hurdle event with a time of 15.40 seconds, while Ella Warkentine ’26 reached sixth place in her first steeplechase with a time of 11:47.10. Liu reached a 39.57-meter hammer throw PR. Zarzycki competed in the high jump and 400-meter hurdle events, placing third in the former with a height of 1.52 meters and seventh in the latter with a time of 69.39 seconds. Huynh reached fourth place in both the pole vault and long jump with distances of 3.55 meters and 4.98 meters. Alisha Anderson ’26 reached a PR in the 100-meter race with a 27th-place time of 14.54 seconds. Gilbert broke her fresh PR in the shot put with an eighth-place distance of 10.25 meters. In the 4×100 relay event, the Judges placed fifth with a time of 49.67 seconds reached by the team of Bohbot-Dridi, Huynh, Korn and Campbell. In the 1500-meter race, Kayla Dibenedetto ’25 placed eighth in a season-best, while Harrow reached a PR of 5:06.88 in 17th place. Lastly, Hailey Crane ’25 reached 32nd place in the 200-meter race with a PR time of 28.39 seconds.
The men, meanwhile, saw Rieden break his 800-meter PR, finishing second with a time of 1:52.64. The win, however, was edged by Carleo, who reached a time of 1:52.55. In the steeplechase, Dia and Licklider both earned PRs with times of 9:47.46 (second place) and 10:00.71 (fifth place) respectively. In the 1500-meter race, Janicki, Spencer Lee ’26, Zhao and Lopez all earned PRs as well, reaching times of 4:04.94 (ninth place), 4:15.00 (21st place), 4:25.71 (27th place) and 4:44.38 (32nd place) respectively. Lee earned another PR in the 800-meter race, placing 33rd with a time of 2:06.74. TJ Showstead ’26 placed 11th in the decathlon, breaking his PRs in the discus, pole vault and 1500-meter race. Lastly, Sam Krause ’27 reached third place in the javelin throw with a 50.26-meter distance, Kudom broke his 100-meter PR with 12.25 seconds (31st place), Willem Goff ’24 broke his 5K PR with a time of 15:56.12 (17th place) and Peirce placed sixth in the shot put with 13.15 meters.
Next, the Judges’ track and field teams will travel to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to compete in the Sean Collier Invitational on April 19 and 20.
Editor’s note: Sports editor Calli Morvay ’26 did not participate in the writing or editing of this article.
