Gourde and Perry Win Individual Events, Other Judges strong at Silfen Invitational

Irie Gourde '17 (Photo by Sportspix)
Irie Gourde '17 (Photo by Sportspix)

NEW LONDON, CT – On two beautiful days for track and field both the men and women's Track and Field teams capitalized on the nice weather and put together some great performances at the 2018 Silfen Invitational hosted by Connecticut College.

The meet is broken up into two separate days; an elite distance night on Friday, followed by the sprints and unseeded distance sections on the second day.  The Judge distance runners set the stage on Friday with a series of impressive races highlighted by junior Emily Bryson's (Quincy, Mass./North Quincy) season debut and win in the 1500m.  Bryson easy dispatched the field beating her next closest competitor by almost two full seconds when she stopped the clock at 4:37.57.

Bryson's run was not the only notable performance from Friday night two Judges also put up quality 5000-meter runs. In the women's 5000 meters sophomore Danielle Bertaux (Prides Crossing, Mass./ Beverly) recorded a huge 42-second personal best to place third overall.  This was a huge breakthrough for Bertaux as it marks the first time she has ever gone under 18 minutes for 5k.  In the men's race, senior captain Liam Garvey (West Springfield, Mass./West Springfield) made his season debut at 5000 meters to a great result, an 8 second personal best for 10th overall. Both athletes, Garvey and Bertaux, qualified for Division III New England's and the ECAC DIII championships. 

Day two was highlighted by a win by graduate student Irie Gourde (Portland, Ore./York Academy, Canada) in the 200m.  Gourde recorded a wind-legal season best with his 22.06 performance.  Gourde also contributed as a member of the 4x400m relay that qualified for ECAC's with their 3:24.00, 3rd place run. The other members of the relay included junior Regan Charie (Topsfield, Mass./Masconomet Reg.), first-year Patrick Quinlan (Northampton, Mass./Northampton), and sophomore Churchill Perry (Pembroke Pines, Fla./Westminster Academy).

Both Charie and Perry also had successes on both the 4x100 meter relay and in individual events throughout the day.  Both athletes teamed up with sophomore Lorenzo Maddox (Atlanta, Ga./Maynard Jackson) and rookie Jake Ward (Weston, Fla./Cypress Bay) to finish 4th in the 4x100 with a time of 43.38 a time that also qualifies for ECAC's.  Individually Perry picked up a win in the triple jump with an outdoor personal best for the second consecutive weekend.  Perry's jump of 14.09m (46'2.75") inches him 10 cm closer to his all conditions best of 14.24 from this past indoor season.  It seems like that mark is on borrowed time if Perry can get a solid legal wind at his back. Along with both relays Charie also placed 7th in the 100m running a wind-legal season best of 11.18 seconds.

 The women's 4x400 matched the men, placing 3rd as well with an ECAC qualifying mark.  The quartet consisted of sophomore Kayla Fahey (Kingston, Mass./Silver Lake Reg.), freshmen Lisbeth Valdez (Providence, R.I./Hope), as well as, juniors Maya Sands-Bliss (Williamsburg, Mass./Amherst Reg.) and Doyin Ogundiran (Dix Hills, N.Y./Half Hollow Hills East). The four combined for a time of 4:06.35.  Also like the members of the men's relays, some of the women also came up big in their individual events.  Fahey and Valdez both recorded top ten finishes individually, with Fahey placing sixth in the long jump with a leap of 4.76m (15'7.5") and Valdez placing 5th in the 400m completing the one lap circuit in 60.23 seconds. Leinni Valdez (Providence, R.I./Hope) also placed top ten in the 400m recording a time of 61.62 for 10th.

Brandeis had five other athletes place top ten in their respective events.  Sophomore Jack Allan (Wrentham, Mass./King Philips Reg.) doubled up by placing 4th in the long jump and 7th in the 110m hurdles. In the long jump, Allan finished with a leap of 6.21m (20'4") while on the track he recorded a high hurdle time of 15.76 seconds. Junior Scott Grote (Greenfield, Mass./Greenfield) matched his teammate while in the throwing circle placing 5th shot put with a toss of 13.02m (42'8.75") and 10th in the discus throwing 38.30m (125'8").  Grote also competed in the hammer throw. The Judges also had two pole-vaulters in the top ten of their competitions. Senior Beth Befossez (Boxford, Mass./Masconomet Reg.) placed 7th in the women's pole vault with a height of 2.95m  (9'8").  On the men's side sophomore Aaron Corin (Sudbury, Mass./Lincoln-Sudbury Reg.) placed 10th vaulting 3.95m (12'11.5").  Lastly, senior Jessie Moore (Rye, N.Y./Rye) recorded a 7th place finish in the heptathlon, scoring a new personal best in the event of 3766 points.

The Judges return to action next week at the Sean Collier Invite hosted by MIT on Saturday, April 21st.