The Judges concluded their competition for the month of October and ran in the University Athletic Association Championship at Emory University this Saturday. Both the men’s and women’s squads had spectacular performances. The women finished very strong, coming in fourth out of eight teams, identical to their 2015 championship performance, and the men finished third of eight, their best University Athletic Association championship rally since 2006. Both squads had astounding runs from their top runners, and now the Judges look to continue the momentum as they look ahead to two National Collegiate Athletic Association Division III meets for the month.

On the women’s side, the Judges finished fourth of eight in the eight-kilometer run with 96 points. Leading the way, Emily Bryson ’19 came in third with a time of 21:55.81, giving her two straight first-team All-Association honors. Her time was a six-second improvement from her outing in the previous season. 

For her final UAA Championship race, Brandeis’ Maddie Dollins ’17 capped off a tremendously successful UAA career. She finished 11th to win her third All-UAA second-team award, and despite missing out on the entire season up until the championship, she was only 14 seconds shy of a first-team award (22:22.42). Finishing third for the Judges and 16th place overall was Kate Farrell ’17 capturing a UAA personal record of 22:35.33. Emily Bryson’s sister Julia Bryson ’19 finished fourth for Brandeis and 28th overall with a time of 23:07.22, an improvement from her 32nd-place finish last year. The final two scorers for Brandeis were Kyra Shreeve ’18 and Meghan Barry ’19. 

On the men’s side, the Judges also finished with 96 points, beating five other teams and coming in third overall. The Washington University in St. Louis Bears and the Carnegie Mellon University Tartans tied to win, both finishing with a score of 58. Brandeis men also defeated nationally ranked teams such as No. 18 New York University and No. 22 Emory University. This was a historic performance for the men, as they hadn’t finished third in the UAA final since fall of 2006.

Ryan Stender ’18 showed no mercy as he finished second overall in the eight-kilometer race with a time of 24:46.48, just two seconds after the first place finisher. Mitchell Hutton ’18, who ran his personal record, finished second for the Judges with a time of 24:54.34, coming in 16th overall.

Stender’s race was Brandeis’ best individual UAA Championship finish since Paul Norton’s ’11 stellar performance in 2009.  

In third, Brandeis’ Quinton Hoey ’17 finished 22nd overall with a time of 25:24.70, his third consecutive third-place finish for the group. Liam Garvey ’18 came in fourth for the team and 24th overall with a time of 25:27.61.  Brian Sheppard ’18 was the fifth scorer for Brandeis at 49th overall .

After the race, Stender commented on the Judges’ fantastic finish, saying, “Going into the race, the whole team knew it was our year to shine… The whole team has really come together and made major jumps, and we knew that this would be a year that no one saw coming.”

Though the season is not yet complete, this was a very exciting and satisfying milestone in both the men’s and women’s seasons. Coming off Stender and Bryson’s UAA Player of the Week awards from Oct. 12 and 19, both stars continued to compete hard and will look to carry their momentum in their upcoming New England regional meet on Nov. 12.