WALTHAM, Mass. – Four Brandeis University student-athletes have earned University Athletic Association Athlete of the Week honors for the week ending March 11th.
Leading the way was junior Emily Bryson of Quincy, Massachusetts, and the women's track and field team. Bryson became the first Judge since 1999 and the first woman since 1997 to win a national championship at the NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field Championships in Birmingham, Alabama on March 9 and 10. Bryson captured the 3,000-meter run with a school-record time of 9:33.99, the ninth-fastest time in Division III history. She also anchored the Judges' third-place distance medley relay team that also set a school-record with a time of 11:42.97. By earning two All-America honors, Bryson has now collected five for her career to go with three cross country honors.
Also from the winter season was junior Joanne Carminucci of Brewster, New York. A foilist on the women's fencing team, Carminucci finished in eighth place at the NCAA Northeast Regional Championships held at Brandeis's Gosman Athletic Center on March 11th. Seeded 17th in the women's foil, Carminucci earned a bye into the second round of competition. She posted a 4-2 record in the round of 35 to reach the semifinals as the eighth seed. In the semifinal round, she topped two opponents from Harvard and one each from Brown and Wellesley to move on to the final 12 in the fifth position. Carminucci went 5-6 among the final 12 to finish in eighth place overall. Her wins came against two opponents from Columbia and one each from Yale, Wellesley and Cornell.
From the spring season, rookie Mason Newman of New Rochelle, New York, of the baseball team earned UAA Pitcher of the Week honors. Newman allowed just two hits in five innings of relief over two outings. In a 7-4 loss at Salem State on March 6, he stranded the bases loaded in the third inning after the Vikings had already scored two runs. On March 10 against Bowdoin, in the first game of a doubleheader, Newman came on two batters into the game when Brandeis starter Tim Lopez left with an injury. Newman went on to earn his first collegiate win with 4.2 innings of two-hit ball, striking out seven of his 14 outs.
Finally, rookie Lauren Bertsch of Middletown, Rhode Island, earned her first career honor for the women's tennis team. In a 1-1 week for the 19th-ranked Judges, Bertsch posted a 3-1 record while playing No. 2 doubles and No. 4 singles. In a 7-2 defeat on the road at #21 MIT on March 9, Bertsch suffered her only loss of the week in a tight doubles match, 9-7, while earning one of the two Brandeis points in singles action with a third-set super-tiebreaker, 7-5, 3-6, 10-3. Against #25 Wellesley on March 10, the Judges defeated the Blue, 6-3. Bertsch joined with junior Keren Khromchenko to pick up an 8-4 win in doubles action, then cruised in a 6-1, 6-3, singles win.
Bryson is a 2015 graduate of North Quincy High School.
Carminucci is a 2015 graduate of North Salem High School.
Newman is a 2017 graduate of New Rochelle High School.
Bertsch is a 2017 graduate of LaSalle Academy.