Mohamed Sidique, Kelsey Whitaker earn silver medals at New Englands

Kelsey Whitaker '16 and Mohamed Sidique '15
Kelsey Whitaker '16 and Mohamed Sidique '15

The Brandeis track & field team earned a pair of silver medals at the New England Division III Championships on Saturday, as three athletes continued their push to qualify for the NCAA Championships.

Junior Mohamed Sidique (Harlem, N.Y./St. Raymond H.S. for Boys) and sophomore Kelsey Whitaker (Kingston, Mass./Notre Dame Acad.) both finished second in their event, setting new personal bests in the process. They were both named UAA Athletes of the Week, Sidique in field, and Whitaker in track.

Senior Amelia Lundkvist (So. Portland, Maine/Cheverus) also earned All-New England honors.

Sidique won the triple jump at the UAA Outdoor Championships last weekend with a new career-best distance of 47 feet. He jumped nearly 10 inches further on Saturday, reaching 47' 9.75". That was good for second out of 14 competitors, as he finished four inches behind Bridgewater State senior Joshua Danner-Hicks.

Sidique is currently ranked ninth in the country in the triple jump. The top 20 qualify for the NCAA Championships.

Whitaker also earned a silver medal, taking second in the 1500-meter run. She finished in 4:37.13, knocking more than three seconds off of her previous career-best. That time is currently the 28th-best in Division III. The 22 best times qualify on the women's side.

Lundkvist was right behind Whitaker, finishing fourth with a time of 4:38.54. Her time of 4:35.16 from a meet last month is still 14th in the country.

Senior Victoria Sanford (LaGrangeville, N.Y./Andover) was 10th in the 1500 with a time of 4:45.22.

Two Judges relays also qualified for the meet. The 4x100 team of sophomore Eddie Tai (Watertown, Mass./Watertown), rookie Nick Wactor (Oakland, Calif./Head-Royce), sophomore Adam Berger (Concord, N.H./Concord) and Sidique finished 20th with a time of 45.34 seconds.

The men's 4x400 team finished in 3:27.28, its best time this season, and good for 14th. Sidique, rookie Jeremy Wilson (Elizabeth, N.J./Elizabeth), sophomore Matt Becker (Mendon, Mass./Nipmuc Regional) and Wactor competed for the Judges.

Overall, the Brandeis women finished 21st out of 32 competing schools with 13 points. The eight points that Sidique earned were good for 23rd place for the men's team.

The Judges are scheduled to compete at Open New England's this weekend. The New Balance Twilight Meet will be held at UMass-Lowell the weekend after, while the NCAA Championships are May 22-24 at Ohio Wesleyan.