Entering the 800-meter race at the Brown Spring Invitational last weekend, mid distance runner Emily Owen '11 was ranked last in her heat. But just over two minutes later, she had qualified for the New England Division III Championships.

"I'm really excited because I'm only a freshman, and I know that I had the potential to qualify," Owen said.

Owen was one of several outdoor track team members to qualify for the Championships last weekend, just one week after competing in the University Athletic Association Championships, at which the women's team finished fourth out of seven and the men's team finished last out of seven.

Going into the 800-meter run last Sunday, Owen was seeded last in the race and wanted to finish somewhere in the middle of the pack.

"I just kind of stuck in the middle, and I had to go around a few girls, but mostly I had to stay strong at the end, which really helped me," Owen said.

Owen ran a time of 2 minutes, 21.83 seconds, just under the qualifying time of 2:23.50.

Jess Girard '10 finished in 2:24.13, just missing qualifying for the Championships.

Four other members of the women's team qualified for this weekend's Championships.

Marie Lemay '11 finished ninth in the 1,500-meter run in 4:44.17, while Beth Pisarik '10 ran it in 4:51.04 and Grayce Selig '11 finished in 4:51.78. All those times were under the qualifying standard of 4:55.85.

"That was really exciting that we could all [qualify] together," Lemay said. "The track was really good . so I was proud that we could all improve our times together."

Sprinter Michelle Gellman '11, who in her first event of the season ran the 400-meter race in 62.28, just beat the qualifying time of 62.80.

Rebecca Happnie '09 continued to improve her time in the 5,000-meter event, for which she ran a personal best 19:15.45, over a minute faster than her time last year.

Two members of the men's squad qualified for this weekend's Championships as well. Dan Suher '08 and Mike Stone '09 came in eighth and 11th, respectively, in the 1,500-meter race. Suher finished in 4:01.01, up almost five seconds from his time of 4:05.75 at UAAs the previous weekend.

Stone also improved his time, finishing at the Brown Invitational in 4:01.77, down from 4:07.00 at UAAs. Both easily met the qualifying time of 4:04.24, and Stone feels he still can improve on this weekend's time.

"I think I can probably run like one or two seconds faster," Stone said. "I think I can get one good workout in before the meet, and I think I'll be fresh, because I've run a lot less miles

recently."

Olivia Alford '08 led the way for the women at the April 19 to 20 UAA Championships, earning all-UAA honors by finishing second in the 400-meter race with a time of 59.20. She also placed sixth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 26.37 and was a member of both the 4-by-100 and 4-by-400 relay teams.

The 4-by-100 team, which consisted of Alford, Katie Henry '09, Sandra Canuto '08 and Adie Sprague '08, finished in 51.30, good for fourth place in the event.

The 4-by-400 squad, made up of Alford, Sprague, Lemay and Pisarik, also finished in fourth with a time of 4:08.53.

The men finished in last place at UAAs, despite an impressive performance from Matt Jennings '09. Jennings ran 4:00.32 to earn third place and all-UAA honors in the 1,500-meter run.

He was also part of a successful 4-by-800 relay team, helping teammates Stone, John Guilinger '08 and Suher finish in third place with a time of 7:55.91.

The Judges will participate in the New England Division III Championships at Coast Guard Academy Friday and Saturday at 10 a.m. Owen, Lemay, Pisarik, Selig, Gelman, Suher and Stone will all be there, attempting to qualify for the?NCAA?Championships, set to take place May 22 at the?University of Wisconsin in Oshkosh.