CLEVELAND, OH – The men and women's track and field team closed out the 2018 UAA Indoor Championships with incredible performances culminating in impressive team finishes. The men finished sixth with 55 points, just one point out of fifth and six out of fourth. This was the highest point total by the men since 2006. The women were even better placing fourth with 41 points their highest finish since 2010.
Day two was highlighted by three wins, two on the track and one in the field. It was started off with sophomore Churchill Perry (Pembroke Pines, Fla./Westminster Academy) who, coming back from competing in the 200m prelims on day one, had the performance of his life to win the triple jump. Coming into the meet Perry had a personal best of 13.86m (45-05.75); today he blew that away securing his first UAA title with a jump of 14.24m (46-08.75). A Brandeis athlete has not won the event since 2014 when Brandeis great Mohamed Sidique took home the title. Perry is now ranked 29th in the country.
Coming back from her DMR win less than twenty-four hours prior junior Emily Bryson (Quincy, Mass./North Quincy) made history. Bryson won the 3000m by almost 10-seconds with a time of 9:54.68. With this win, she becomes likely the only UAA athlete to ever win six UAA titles in six different events. As of now, Bryson has won in cross country, the outdoor 5000m, the indoor mile, the 1500m outdoors, last nights DMR, and now the 3000m. Bryson's time, when converted for track size places her 12th nationally, possibly allowing for a mile/3000m double come the NCAA championships in March.
The final winner of the day came in the race right after Bryson's, the men's 200m. Irie Gourde (Portland, Ore./ York Academy, Canada), who has had five career 2nd place finishes at the UAA Championships, finally got his win running 22.54 to beat the runner-up from U. of Chicago by .12. A Brandeis athlete has not won this event in over 10 years with the last victory coming in 2007. Gourde's time from the prelim yesterday of 22.09 places him in the top 10 nationally which allows him the opportunity for a 200m/400m double at the national meet, similar to his workload this weekend.
Along with his 200m win Gourde also contributed points in the 400m where he placed second in 49.03 and, in the 4x400 where he anchored the relay to a 3rd place finish splitting 49.5 seconds. The other members of that relay included our other UAA Champion in Perry who lead of with a 50.0 second leg, as well as Patrick Quinlan (Northampton, Mass./ Northampton) (52.4) and Henry McDonald (Weymouth, Mass./Weymouth) (53.4) all of which added up a time of 3:25.80.
Another athlete who scored in multiple events was junior Regan Charie (Topsfield, Mass./ Masconomet Regional). Charie who recorded a personal best to advance to the 60m final yesterday, placed 6th in the final today with a time of 7.11. This was the second-best time of Charie's career and would have been a personal best if not for his run a day prior. Joining teammate Gourde in the 200m final, Charie placed fourth running 22.89.
On the women's side, the next highest place finish came from junior Doyin Ogundiran (Dix Hills, N.Y./Half Hollow Hills East) who placed second in the 800m running an indoor personal best of 2:14.05. Ogundiran only made it into the final on protest after being impeded in her prelim. With her performance, however, she showed that she belonged. Ogundiran is now ranked 4th nationally and will attempt to earn her first All-American honor after missing out last spring.
The final All-UAA performer was senior Ryan Stender (Amherst, Mass./ Amherst Regional) who placed third in the 3000m run with a time of 8:38.61. This was his second career All-UAA honor in the event after winning it in 2016.
Other athletes who scored valuable points for the Judges included Jordin Carter (Fort Wayne, Ind./ R. Nelson Snyder) in the shot put. Carter placed 5th with a throw of 11.33m (37-02.25) to go along with her second place in the weight throw on day one. Also earning a fifth-place finish was the women's 4x400 relay that recorded a time of 4:03.52. The quartet included Kayla Fahey, Leinni Valdez (Providence, R.I./ Hope), Lisbeth Valdez (Providence, R.I./ Hope), and Ogundiran. The final scorer for the women was Julia Bryson (Quincy, Mass./North Quincy) who placed 6th in the mile with a time of 5:14.05.
On the men's side, the final two scorers were Scott Grote (Greenfield, Mass./ Greenfield) and Breylen Ammen (Lincoln, Mass./ Lincoln Sudbury). Grote, who received All-UAA in the weight throw on day one, placed 5th with a throw of 13.09m (42-11.5). Ammen, competing in his first UAA championships placed 6th in the pole vault with a height of 4.21m (13-09.75).
Up next for the Judges is a last chance meet at Tufts University next weekend where the men will try to secure a top 15 national mark, the women a top 17 mark, and relays a top 12 mark, to earn entry into the NCAA championship.
- Eli Waxler '19