On May 14, the men and women’s track and field team posted impressive performances at the 2016 Open New England Championships. The competition was intense, with teams coming from all across Division I, II and III to the meet at Southern Connecticut State University. 

The men were able to place two runners onto the All-New England Team. In the 5000-meter run, Ryan Stender ’18 finished the race in sixth place with a time of 14:46.43. Stender’s career best time was the fourth best among Division III competitors at the meet. 

The finish, which was a good five seconds better than his previous best 5k race, placed him in 46th overall in Division III this season. 

Also earning an Open New England honor was Evan Scott ’16 who recorded a remarkable performance in the high jump. 

Scott tied his career high leap of 2.01 meters that netted him an eighth-place finish. It was the second-best jump among Division III competitors for the meet. 

Overall, it was the 31st-best performance in Division III this season. Stender and Scott were the first Judges to earn All-Open New England honors in the outdoors season since 2014. 

While he did not win such an honor, Adam Berger ’18 also performed admirably in the meet. Berger recorded a jump of 6.49 meters in the long jump. The leap earned him a 19th-place finish.

On the women’s side, Emily Bryson ’19 led the Judges, as she has all year long. 

Bryson ran the 5000-meter run in a time of only 17:17.72. Her collegiate best score was third for Division III competitors and sixth overall. The time was a full thirty seconds better than her previous lowest time, and was the 30th best finish in Division III this season. 

Her All-Open New England honors were a first for the women’s side in six seasons. 

The squad also had four other competitors on the women’s side. In the 1500-meter run, Kyra Shreeve ’17 finished in 18th overall with a time of 4:56.53. 

The finish was fifth best for Division III runners at the meet. 

Also running in the same race was Kelsey Whitaker ’16, who finished in 22nd place. Her time of 5:01.16 was the seventh best among Division III competitors. 

In the 400-meter run, Haliana Burhans ’18 finished in 21st place with a time of 58.53 seconds. The time was also good enough to finish in the top-10 for Division III runners. In the same race, Tove Freeman ’16 was the 29th overall and 11th Division III finisher. 

For the teams as a whole, the men finished in 31st place at the meet, while the women tied for 28th place. The solid performance followed another strong finish in the 2016 New England Division III Championship the weekend before. 

The team finished in 21st place overall in that meet, which was its strongest performance since 2011. Scott led the squad by winning the high jump with a leap of 1.93 meters. Mitchell Hutton ’18 also earned an All-New England honor by finishing the 5k with a time of 15:04.46. 

The Judges will hope to have runners qualify for the NCAA Division III Championships at Wartburg College this Thursday. Last season, Whitaker was able to compete in the Championships. Then a junior, Whitaker placed in 20th overall during the 1500-meter run.