Track teams perform well in opener
After three weeks of rest following a tough cross country season, the Brandeis distance squad was joined by sprinters, jumpers and throwers for the winter track and field team.
The Judges traveled to nearby Northeastern University in Boston for the Jay Carisella Invitational last Saturday, a non-scoring invitational. This meet also provided a good gauge of fitness for the runners, many of whom have not competed since last spring.
"It was good to have the teams finally compete after such a long break," said assistant coach Mark Reytblat, who primarily trains the sprinters, jumpers, hurdlers and throwers. "Alex [Kramer '13] ran a good mile, Kim [Farrington '13] had a great triple jump. Vincent [Asante '14] ran not as fast as he would have wanted in the 60 [meter dash], but he did well."
Kicking off the day was the 60-meter hurdles event. Brandon Odze '16 completed the distance in 11.52 seconds for 23rd-place. Following the hurdles was the 60-meter dash sprint, with Asante finishing eighth in 7.24 seconds. Jacob Wilhoite '15 finished 38th in 7.69, while Adam Berger '15 placed 40th with a time of 7.72. Asante's time and place allowed him to advance to the finals, where he sprinted to a seventh-place in 7.10 seconds. On the women's side, fellow veteran Brittany Bell '13 completed the 60-meter race in 8.07 seconds, finishing twelfth overall.
The 200-meter sprint was another event that provided tough competition. Asante, Odze, Wilhoite and Makalani Mack '16 finished in 14th, 44th, 46th and 48th places, respectively. On the women's side, newcomer Tove Freeman '16 finished 55th in 28.41.
In the 400-meter race, Josh Hoffman-Senn '13 finished 19th in 53.77, while Trevor Tuplin '16 placed 22nd in 54.43. Casey McGown '13 and Anifreed Sinjour '13 ran 1:01.78 and 1:03.24 for 21st and 25th-place, respectively.
The distance events featured a pair of top-six performances. In the 800 meter, Carl Lieberman '16 made a promising collegiate track debut after his first cross-country season, running the four-lap race in 2:03.10 for sixth-place. In the one mile run, Kramer placed fourth in 4:17.35.
In the men's shot put, Kris Stinehart '14 finished 12th with a throw of 11.69 meters, while Jonathan Gilman '15 threw 8.03 meters for 25th-place. On the women's side, Alyssa Fenenbock '15 threw the shot 7.10 meters for 24th place.
The jumps featured several standout performances, too. Kensai Hughes '14 jumped 6.09 meters, finishing 10th while Brian Louis '16 and Berger triple jumped 12.72 meters and 12.18 meters for seventh and 12th places, respectively.
Allison Callahan '16 was the lone high jumper for the women, jumping 1.47 meters for 11th-place. Farrington and Bell long jumped 4.60 meters and 4.44 meters for 21st and 25th places, respectively. In the triple jump, Farrington also jumped 11.05 meters for a notable second place.
The next meet will be the Reggie Poyau Memorial Invitational hosted by Brandeis on Dec. 7 at 5 p.m. And given that the meet will be held in the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center, Reytblat is hoping to see good performances on both sides.
"After the [Reggie Poyau Memorial Invitational], we have a long break," he said, "so we want to go into the [winter] break with good performances to remember."
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