The men and women’s track and field teams made the trip to Tufts University for the second straight weekend to compete in the 2016 Cupid Challenge. Both squads had strong showings on Saturday, with many Judges placing in the top half of a variety of different events. 

Haliana Burhans ’18 and Ramani Dayon ’19 helped the women’s squad start the day off on the right foot, with Burhans placing third in the 60-meter dash final, clocking in at 8.21 seconds. Dayon had an all-around strong outing, placing seventh in the women’s 400-meter dash, finishing with a finals time of 1:04.12. 

The Judges continued their impressive day with an 800-meter run that saw two runners finish in the top 20 out of all competitors. Aubrey Clemens ’19 and Doyin Ogundiran ’19 finished 16th and 18th, respectively. The Judges also placed three competitors in the women’s one-mile run, with Kyra Shreeve ’18 leading the Brandeis charge with an impressive 5:10.00, enough for a 14th place finish among all contestants. 

Perhaps the greatest success of the day, the women’s squad seized victory in the 4x200-meter relay, with a squad made up of Kanya Brown ’19, Ogundiran, Tove Freeman ’16 and Burhans clocking in at 1:49.31, barely edging an Amherst squad that finished with a time of 1:50.64. 

While the women’s squad did not find a great deal of success outside of running-based competitions, their relatively strong showing at the Cupid Challenge is one to be excited about. 

For the men, Adam Beckwith ’18 and Brandon Odze ’16 kicked the day off by placing in the top 20 of the 200 and 400-meter dash, respectively. Maddox Kay ’19 kept the momentum going for the Judges, placing 15th in the 600-meter run, clocking in at 1:33:27. 

What’s more, the men’s squad saw eight contestants place in the top 25 of the one-mile run — Grady Ward ’16 leading the way with a time of 4:25.27, which proved sufficient for a seventh place finish. Mitchell Hutton ’18 had a strong outing of his own, placing 11th among all contestants. 

While the women’s squad claimed first place in one of their relay competitions, the men’s team found no such success, mustering up one top-five finish. That finish came in the 4x400 relay, in which a Judges squad made up of Matthew Becker ’16, Trevor Tuplin ’16, Jeremy Wilson ’17 and Henry McDonald ’19 finished with a decent time of 3:36.95. 

The men’s strong day continued with the high jump, with Mark Franklin ’17 placing first overall with an impressive jump of 1.88 meters in the men’s finals. Further, the Judges saw two places in the top nine of the men’s long jump, with Adam Berger ’16 leaping his way to sixth place with a final jump of 6.16 meters. 

The men’s squad also found success in the triple jump, with two Brandeis competitors placing in the top nine. Berger finished with a jump of 12.75 meters, enough to place sixth overall. McDonald placed ninth overall, with a final jump of 12.19 meters. 

While the men’s squad failed to place in the top nine of the weight throw, Kevin Trotman ’16 found success in the shot-put competition, placing 14th overall with a final throw of 11.72 meters. 

Looking ahead, the men and women travel together to Boston University this coming weekend to participate in the Valentine’s Invitational. Both squads will look to build on the momentum they established at Tufts this past weekend.