WALTHAM, Mass. - The Brandeis University track and field teams each sat in fifth place after Day One of the 2010 University Athletic Association championships being held in the Gosman Athletic Center this weekend. The Judges had four All-UAA performances, including one conference championship.
The Brandeis men's distance medley relay qualified provisionally for next weekend's 2010 NCAA Division III championships with the team's only title of Day One. The quartet of sophomore Marc Boutin (Westford, Mass./Westford Acad.), rookie Brian Foley (Foxboro, Mass./Foxboro), Chris Brown (No. Chelmsford, Mass./Chelmsford) and junior Devon Holgate (Cumberland, R.I./Cumberland) edged their rivals from New York University by just over half a second with a time of 10:08.42. Holgate outkicked the Violet runner down the stretch to earn the victory.
Also reaching the podium for the Judges was junior Paul Norton (Amherst, Mass./Amherst Regional), who placed second in the 5,000-meter run to Emory senior Tommy Fyffe. Norton improved his earlier NCAA provisional time with a mark of 14:44.14. He closed a significant gap in the last two laps to finish just 1.05 seconds behind Fyffe, who lowered his own conference record by 0.23 seconds with a mark of 14:43.09.
On the women's side, Brandeis had two runner-up showings. Junior Lucia Capano (Manchester, N.H./Manchester Central) placed second in the long jump with a distance of 5.31 meters (17 feet, 5 ¼ inches). Capano was passed by sophomore Lauren Attiah of Emory on the final jump of the competition. The women's distance medley relay of senior Beth Pisarik (Chelmsford, Mass./Chelmsford), rookie Annifreed Sinjour (New Bedford, Mass./New Bedford), sophomore Erin Bisceglia (Durham, Conn./Coginchaug) and junior Marie Lemay (Saco, Maine/Thornton Acad.) were unable to hold off the Washington Univ. quartet. The Bears established a new conference record with a time of 12:11.67, breaking a mark that had stood since 2002.
The Judges also had another NCAA qualifying performance in the preliminaries, as junior Emily Owen (Syracuse, NY/Westhill) had a provisional performance in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:15.92. Owen was edged out at the line by Washington's Sangeeta Hardy in one of the day's closest races.
One other UAA record fell on the first day of action. Chicago senior Claire Ray won the 20-pound weight throw with a distance of 18.35 meters (60 feet, 2 ½ inches), more than one full meter than the previous record set in 2007.