ATLANTA, Ga. -- The Brandeis University women's track and field team had one scoring performance and two runners advance to finals today at the 2015 University Athletic Association outdoor championships at Emory University, while the Brandeis men had two scoring performances.
For the men, senior Mo Sidique (Harlem, N.Y./St Raymond's H.S. for Boys) was 11 centimeters, or four-and-a-quarter inches, from All-Association honors in the long jump. His distance of 6.46 meters (21-2 1/2) was good for fifth place and came on his final jump of the competition.
In the men's 4x800-meter relay, the Judges finished in sixth place as well, improving to fifth when one squad was disqualified. The group of sophomores Matt Becker (Mendon, Mass./Nipmuc Regional) and Quinton Hoey (Watertown, Conn./Watertown) and rookies Mitchell Hutton (Villa Park, Calif./Villa Park) and Ryan Stender (Amherst, Mass./Amherst Regional) finished with a time of 8:04.36, about three seconds ahead of the University of Chicago and four behind Case Western Reserve.
The Judges' top individual performer on the afternoon, which was delayed by rainstorms for a couple of hours, was rookie Haliana Burhans (Charlotte, Vt./Champlain Valley Union), who reached the finals in two different events. Burhans took the eighth spot in the 200-meter dash with a time of 26.57 seconds, nearly two-tenths of a second ahead of the ninth-place finisher and nearly half a second faster than her previous season-best.
Burhans also placed sixth in the 400-meter dash, where she will be joined by junior captain Tove Freeman (Oakham, Mass./Quabbin Regional). Burhans was second in her heat with a time of 58.93 seconds, good for sixth overall. It was nearly a full second faster than her previous best time of the season, 59.85 seconds. Freeman took fourth in her heat and the eighth and final qualifying spot in the finals with a time of 59.56 seconds, her first time under one minute this season.
Brandeis's only scoring event of the first day of action was the 4x800-meter relay, where they finished in sixth place with a time of 9:32.29. The quartet was made of senior Kristi Pisarik (Chelmsford, Mass./Chelmsford), rookie Kyra Shreeve(Northborough, Mass./Algonquin Regional), sophomore Ashley Piccirillo-Horan (North Granby, Conn./Granby Memorial) and junior Kelsey Whitaker (Kingston, Mass./Notre Dame Academy).
The Judges continue their UAA championship meet tomorrow.