The weather at the George Davis Invitational at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell last Saturday threw the outdoor track team off-balance. One moment it was sunny, but then the next, it started pouring rain and hailing for much of the day.

"A bunch of kids had warmed up in the nice weather, and when it came to their race it was cold again, and it was kind of just a shock," Ali Sax '09 said.

Despite the tough conditions, the Judges still got several top performances by both men's and women's participants.

Alford finished second in the 400-meter dash in 59.67 seconds but said she did not execute the right strategy.

"I went out really fast, faster than I should have for the first 200, and just tried to hang on," Alford said.

"The girl who won was a lot faster than me, so I knew she was going to probably pass me in the end."

In the 1,500-meter event, three Judges finished in the top six, and all four Judges who competed finished in the top 12. Marie Lemay '11 led the way with a third-place finish in 4 minutes, 51.99 seconds and was followed by Grayce Selig '11, who came in fifth place in 4:54.54. Selig's time was over a second and a half slower than her time in the same event at last weekend's Stonehill Skyhawk Track and Field Invitational, where she finished in third place.

Beth Pisarik '10 was just behind Selig, coming in sixth place in 4:57.88, while Hannah Lindholm '11 finished in 12th place in 5:09.10, which was also slower than her time of 5.06:79 at Stonehill.

The Judges also had some top-five finishes in the field events. Sax, returning for the spring season despite missing the end of the winter season after getting hit by a car on campus, finished in fifth place in the long jump with a leap of 4.98 meters.

"I felt really good," Sax said. "I didn't get to long jump as many times as I wanted because I had to do the [4-by-100 relay], but I felt good. It felt good to be back there competing."

Suzanne Bernier '10 and Bessie Bianco '08 were two of the competitors who finished in a three-way tie for third place in the high jump.

Both jumped 1.53 meters, which was better than their performance at Stonehill College, where each jumped 1.50 meters.

The Judges continue to compete without Meaghan Casey '09, who provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 800-meter run last year.

She will miss the rest of the outdoor season with stress fractures in both of her feet.

On the men's side, Matt Jennings '09 was the top finisher with a time of 3:58.83 in the 1,500-meter race, which was good for fourth place out of 62 competitors. He ended two places higher than his sixth-place finish in the same event at Stonehill.

"I'm just glad to get back to running well again and representing our team well again," Jennings said.

Pat Gregoire '09 garnered two top-10 finishes, taking ninth out of 43 competitors in the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.38 seconds and seventh out of 29 competitors in the 100-meter dash in 11.46 seconds. Ned Crowley '10 continued his strong start to the outdoor season with a fifth-place finish out of 23 competitors in the 400-meter event in 51.54. He took fourth place in the same event at Stonehill.

The two teams next compete in the University Athletic Association Championships April 18 to 19 at the University of Chicago at 10 a.m each day. Coach Mark Reytblat said he is looking forward to the event.

"We're all set to go for the [UAA Championships]," he said. "So we'll see what happens.