GORHAM, Maine – The Brandeis indoor track and field team opened their spring semester on Saturday at the non-scoring University of Southern Maine Invitational. The Judges had three individual winners, plus another top collegiate finisher. They also had seven second-place finishes and five thirds.
Topping the podium, rookie Doyin Ogundiran (Dix Hills, N.Y./Half Hollow Hills East) earned her second collegiate win in as many individual races, taking the 600-meter run with a time of 1:47.60. She beat teammate Maya Sands-Bliss (Williamsburg, Mass./Amherst Regional), who was second in 1:51.00.
On the men's side, junior Brad Payne (Westport, Conn. / Staples) took the 800-meter run with a mark of 2:11.95, just five-hundredths of a second faster than senior Trevor Tuplin(Weymouth, Mass./Weymouth) in second.
Sophomore Ryan Stender (Amherst, Mass./Amherst Regional) rounded out the winners in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 9:01.20, which is good for 33rd place on the current NCAA Division III leaderboard.
Sophomore Mitchell Hutton (Villa Park, Calif./Villa Park) was the top collegiate finisher in the mile run, placing fourth overall with a time of 4:24.12. Among the unattached runners ahead of him was Alex Kramer '13, a two-time UAA Champion and NCAA qualifier in the event.
The day's only competitor to place in the top three in multiple events was senior Adam Berger(Concord, N.H./Concord) in the horizontal jumps. Berger was second in the triple jump with a distance of 12.71 meters (41 feet, 8 ¼ inches) and third in the long jump at 6.17 meters (20 feet, 3 inches), up three spots in the finals after finishing sixth in the prelims.
In addition to Berger, Sands-Bliss and Tuplin, other second-place finishers included junior Maddie Dolins (Highland Park, Ill./Highland Park) in the mile with a time of 5:21.13; senior Tove Freeman (Oakham, Mass./Quabbin Regional) in the 800 meters in 2:12.00; senior Grady Ward (Essex Junction, Vt./Essex) in the 1000 meters (second among college runners and third overall) in 2:39.03; and rookie Regan Charie (Topsfield, Mass. / Masconomet Reg.) in the 200 meter dash with a time of 23.77 seconds.
Third place finishers were sophomore Haliana Burhans (Charlotte, Vt./Champlain Valley Union) in the 400 (1:04.53); senior Matt Becker (Mendon, Mass./Nipmuc Regional) in the 600 (1:26.09); junior Mark Franklin (Auburn, N.H./Pinkerton Acad.) in the high jump (1.78m, 5-10); and junior Orestes Marinos-Iatrides in the 35-pound weight throw (8.33m, 27-4).
The Judges are back in action on Saturday at 10 a.m. for their only home meet of the season, the Reggie Poyau Memorial Invitational.