The men's and women's track & field teams braved the dreary weekend weather for their first outdoor meet of the season on Saturday. In a meet aptly known as the Snowflake Classic, the Judges battled runners from Divisions I, II and III and came away with several impressive performances.
Rookie Nick Wactor (Oakland, Calif./Head-Royce) had the highest track finish on the men's side, placing 12th in the 400-meter dash with a time of 52.73 seconds. It was just 1/3 of a second off of the career-best time he set indoors at the UAA Indoor Track & Field Championships.
Rookie Jeremy Wilson (Elizabeth, N.J./Elizabeth) was 28th in the 400. Sophomore Adam Berger (Concord, N.H./Concord) was 40th, while classmate Brandon Odze (Melville, N.Y./Half Hollow Hills East) finished 60th.
Sophomore Matt Becker (Mendon, Mass./Nipmuc Regional) and junior Mohamed Sidique (Harlem, N.Y./St. Raymond H.S. for Boys) both finished in the top 20 in the 800. Becker was 15th with a time of 2:03.97, while Sidique's 2:04.06 was a career best, and good for 17th. Sophomore Trevor Tuplin (Weymouth, Mass./Weymouth) finished 30th in the event.
In the distance events, sophomore Grady Ward (Essex Junction, Vt./Essex) and rookie Matt Doran (Hopedale, Mass./Hopedale) finished 20th and 21st, respectively, in the 1500.
Berger set a new career best in the 200, placing 27th with at time of 24.12 seconds. Fellow sopohomore Eddie Tai (Watertown, Mass./Watertown) did the same in the 100 with a time of 12.18 seconds. He placed 53rd out of 83 competitors.
Tai was 60th in the 200. Rookie Mark Franklin (Auburn, N.H./Pinkerton Acad.) finished in 73rd.
Franklin tied for 11th in the high jump, reaching 1.73 meters. Junior Jonathan Gilman (Yardley, Pa./George School) was ninth out of 45 competitors in the javelin, throwing 46.34 meters.
The men's 4x400 relay team was fourth with a time of 3:34.85.
The women's team had four competitors. On the track side, sophomores Maggie Hensel (Niskayuna, N.Y./Niskayuna) and Molly Paris (Falmouth, Mass./Falmouth) finished 25th and 50th, respectively, in the 1500. Hensel finished in 5:01.50 in her first time competing since cross country, as she missed the indoor season due to injury.
The Judges also had two competitors in the women's javelin. Junior Alyssa Fenenbock (Upper Saddle River, N.J./Northern Highlands Regional) took 21st with a distance of 29.60 meters. Rookie Selena Livas (Portland, Ore./Cleveland) placed 40th.
Brandeis will compete at the AIC Yellowjacket Invitational on Saturday.