Asante, Sanford lead Judges at GBTC Invitational

Vincent Asante '14 and Victoria Sanford '14
Vincent Asante '14 and Victoria Sanford '14

The Brandeis men's and women's track & field teams continued their fast start to the indoor season over the weekend, notching several personal records and standout performances at the Greater Boston Track Club Invitational at Harvard University. The GBTC meet features a number of unaffiliated and sponsored runners, as well as several local universities. Many of the events were split into two fields, with several Brandeis runners earning places in the "invitational" races.

On the men's side, senior co-captain Vincent Asante (Bronx, N.Y./High School for Arts Imagination and Inquiry) finished third in the 60-meter dash, clocking in at 7.03 seconds. Asante finished just one one-hundredth of a second behind second place and one tenth of a second out of first. His time of 6.98 seconds at the Dartmouth Relays last week is still the 11th-fastest time in Division III this year.

Rookie Nick Wactor (Oakland, Calif./Head-Royce) continued his fine start to the season, grabbing ninth in the 400-meter dash with a time of 54.34. Wactor also placed 13th in the 200.

Brandeis took third, fourth and fifth in the 600. Junior co-captain Mohamed Sidique (Harlem, N.Y./St. Raymond H.S. for Boys) finished in 1:29.48, sophomore Trevor Tuplin (Weymouth, Mass./Weymouth) in 1:31.87 and rookie Jeremy Wilson (Elizabeth, N.J./Elizabeth) in 1:32.07

Rookie Omar Scruggs (Tampa, Fla./Berkeley Prep) took eighth in a packed 800-meter invitational field. Scruggs' time of 1:58.60 was less than four seconds behind the winner. He was also the second fastest collegiate runner.

Sophomore Grady Ward (Essex, Vt./Essex) finished seventh in the mile invitational, crossing the line in 4:27.39. Ward's time was second-best of the collegiate competitors, and shaved more than 2.5 seconds off of his personal record.

Rookie Quentin Hoey (Watertown, Conn./Watertown) also competed in the mile, finishing 13th with a time of 4:35.61, a new personal best.

The Judges had several impressive results in the field events as well. Rookie Mark Franklin (Auburn, N.H./Pinkerton Acad.) was fourth in the men's high jump. Sophomores Brian Louis (Elmont, N.H./Bishop Ford Central Catholic) and Adam Berger (Concord, N.H./Concord) placed fifth and ninth in the triple jump with lengths of 12.67 and 12.22 meters, respectively.

Sidique placed 11th in the long jump with a distance of 5.9 meters. Louis and Berger were also 19th and 16th in the long jump.

The Brandeis women's team was paced by senior co-captain Victoria Sanford (Andover, N.Y./Andover). Sanford was the top collegiate athlete in the mile invitational (7th overall). Her time of 5:06.15 set a new personal record and is currently the sixth-fastest time in Division III this year.

Rookie Maddie Dollins (Highland Park, Ill./Highland Park) and sophomore Kelsey Whitaker (Kingston, Mass./Notre Dame Acad.) also competed in the mile invitational and finished 13th and 14th, respectively. Dollins finished in 5:18.01, a new personal best, while Whitaker finished in 5:22.65. Both have qualified for the New England Division III Championships and own top-50 times in the country so far this season.

Rookie Ashley Piccarrillo-Horan (North Granby, Conn./Granby Memorial) was the second-fastest collegiate runner (5th overall) in the 800-meter invitational, finishing in 2:24.47. The race was one of the closest of the day, as second-through-sixth finished less than 1.5 seconds apart.

Fellow first-year Ashley Hebard (Pasadena, Calif./Westridge) took 13th in the 400 with a time of 1:10.95. She was also 28th in the 200.

The Judges are back in action this weekend. The men's and women's squads will both compete at the Terrier Invitational at Boston University.