NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The Brandeis University track and field teams had three All-New England performances yesterday at the 2016 Open New England championships featuring the top competitors from Division I, II and III at Southern Connecticut State University. 

The Judges were represented on the podium in both the men's and women's 5,000-meter runs. For the men, sophomore Ryan Stender (Amherst, Mass./Amherst Regional) finished sixth overall and fourth among Division III runners in the 5K with a lifetime-best time of 14:46.43, edged by two-hundredths of a second for fifth place. Stender broke into the top 50 in Division III this season, ranking 46^th overall, as he shaved nearly five seconds off his previous career-fastest.

The Brandeis women saw rookie Emily Bryson (Quincy, Mass./North Quincy) also finished sixth in the 5K, coming in third among Division III runners. Her personal-best time of 17:17.72 improved her standing in D3 to 30^th overall and sliced nearly 30 seconds off her career-best time. Bryson was the first Brandeis woman to place outdoors at the Open New England meet since 2010.

Also finishing in the top eight for the Judges was senior Evan Scott (North Kingstown, R.I./North Kingstown) in the high jump. Scott placed second among Division III jumpers for only the second time this season. He matched his life-time best in the event at 2.01 meters (6 feet, 7 inches) to place eighth overall based on the number of attempts. Scott remains in a tie for 31^st in the Division III standings. Scott joined Stender as the first Brandeis men to win All-Open New England honors outdoors since 2014.  

Brandeis had one other competitor on the men's side and four other women. Senior Adam Berger (Concord, N.H./Concord) placed 19^th in the long jump with a distance of 6.49 meters (21 feet, 3 ½ inches).

The women had two competitors in the 1,500-meter run and the 400-meter dash. In the metric mile, junior Kyra Shreeve (Northborough, Mass./Algonquin Regional) was 18^th overall (5^thD3) with a time of 4:56.53, while senior Kelsey Whitaker (Kingston, Mass./Notre Dame Acad.) was 22^nd overall and 7^th in D3 with a time of 5:01.16. In the 400, sophomore Haliana Burhans (Charlotte, Vt./Champlain Valley Union) was 21^st overall (9^th D3) in 58.53 seconds, while senior Tove Freeman (Oakham, Mass./Quabbin Regional) was 29^th/11^th D3 in 59.73 seconds. Freeman also ran the 800 in 2:22.87m good for 26^th overall and 10^th in Division III.

The four points earned by Stender and Scott put the Brandeis men in a three-way tie for 31^stplace, while the three points earned by Bryson had the Judges in a tie for 28^th place on the women's side.

The Judges will have one more opportunity to improve their chances to qualify for the NCAA Championships this weekend at the ECAC Championships at Westfield State University.