The Judges’ track and field team began its season on the right foot this past Saturday, looking to improve upon their mediocre 2014 to 2015 campaigns. 

Last season, both the men and women’s teams struggled, posting a best finish of sixth place for each. 

While the Judges were off to a great start last season, scoring five top-three finishes in their debut at the University of Massachusetts Boston Invitational, their success tapered off as the season progressed. Despite tough losses in graduating seniors Mo Sidique ’15, Jarret Harrigan ’15 and Kristi Pistarik ’15, the new-look Judges persevered and were able to replicate last season’s finish at the UMass Invitational.

Before the meet, Tove Freeman ’16 noted some of the team’s strongholds, explaining, “We are hoping to get a few national qualifiers both individually and in our relays, specifically in the Distance Medley  and the 4x400 [meter relay].” Freeman was spot-on in her evaluation, with the women dominating the one-mile and 3000-meter runs, along with a strong top-ten finish in the 4x400 meter relay. 

The women’s team stole the one-mile race, nabbing first and second place along with four top-ten finishes. Kyra Shreve ’18 broke the tape with a 5 minute, 13.59 second mile, narrowly edging out teammate Ashley Piccirillo-Horan ’17 by three seconds. Maggie Hensel ’16 was not far behind, placing sixth and running a 5:30.54 mile. 

The first-years racked up the hardware, boasting two gold medals in the meet. 

The 3000-meter run was a breeze, with Julia Bryson ’19 taking home the gold. Bryson cruised to the finish line in her first race of the year with a 10:54.90 time, beating the second-place runner from Bentley College by a cool 16 seconds. 

The next first-year, Doyin Ogundiran ’19, ran her best of the day in the 800-meter race. Ogundiran finished the race with a 2:25.75 time to take home Brandeis’s second gold medal of the day.

The Judges sneaked into the top ten, finishing ninth during the 4x400 meter relay. The women’s A team finished a mere half of a second before Bridgewater State’s B team crossed the finish line. 

Unfortunately, the Judges were unable to crack the top ten in any of their remaining races. The women were able to win big in a few of their races. 

However, they could not make an impact in any of their weaker races at the meet. 

The men’s team fared equally as well, dominating in the one-mile race during the competition. 

Roger Lacroix ’18 took first place, running three tenths of a second faster than second place finisher and teammate Grady Ward ’16. Max Whitmore ’18 was right behind, finishing in the top five with a 4:34.24 mile. 

The men posted just two more top-ten finishes during the weekend. In the 800-meter run, Matthew Becker ’18 placed fifth in just over two minutes. 

Brian Sheppard ’18 also cracked the top ten in the 5000-meter race, finishing in just under 16 minutes. 

Before the meet, Sheppard noted, “From what I've seen, this is going to be the sprinters, mid-distance and jumping groups’ best year in a long time.” 

Sheppard seems certainly correct in his prediction, with Evan Scott ’16 boasting a high jump of 1.85 meters, good enough to reel in a seventh-place finish. 

Although both the men and women’s teams dominated the track in the one-mile and long distance races, the team has much to improve upon in the other events. 

The men did not finish above 14th in any of the short-distance races, while the women reached only 16th. 

The teams will have to put in the hard work in order to be ready for this week’s meet. 

Both teams will be running at the University of Southern Maine Open this coming Saturday. This will be a new venue for the Judges, as they did not race at the USM Open last season. 

The Judges will look to continue their marked success in the long-distance races and improve in their peripheral events to solidify themselves as a title contenders.