Pickard wins mile, women finish fifth at Tufts

Bridget Pickard reaching for a relay baton at a race outdoors
Bridget Pickard 23 (Photo by Cayla Fernandes)
Posted: Jan 21, 2023

MEDFORD, Mass. – In their second meet of 2023, the Brandeis University women's track and field team placed fifth at the Branwen Smith-King Invitational at Tufts University. The Judges earned 60 points, placing them just two behind Wellesley in third and one behind Smith in fourth.

Senior Bridget Pickard (Westwood, Mass. / Westwood) turned in the top performance of the day for the Judges, winning the mile run in a time of 5:21.67, coming 0.39 seconds ahead of second place. The Judges also got scoring from sophomore Kyra Au (Great Neck, N.Y. / Great Neck South) in the mile, as she finished in seventh place with a time of 5:51.15.

The 4x400-meter relay team of senior Yahni Lapa (West Newton, Mass. / Newton North), sophomores Hannah Bohbot-Dridi (Mountain View, Calif. / Los Altos), senior Victoria Morrongiello (Staten Island, N.Y. / Susan E. Wagner) and sophomore Kayla DiBenedetto (Andover, Mass. / Andover) were runner-up with a time of 4:20.58, behind only a team from host Tufts.

The Judges had a trio of third-place finishes. Junior Alya Campbell (Eastchester, N.Y. / Eastchester) was third in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 9.47 seconds, while junior Smiley Huynh (Bronx, N.Y. / Bronx H.S. of Science) was third in the pole vault with a height of 3.30 meters (10-10). DiBenedetto added a third-place in the 1,000-meter run with a time of 3:11.72, while first-year Ella Warkentine (Malvern, Pa. / Conestoga) was fifth in the event in 3:16.70.

Junior Liz Korn (Piedmont, Calif. / Piedmont) was fourth in her first pentathlon of the season with a mark of 2635 points. Her top performance was second place in the 800, while taking fifth in three other events.

First-year Shaniece Nugent (Hartford, Conn. / Lawrence Academy) scored in two events, placing fourth in the triple jump (10.40m, 34 ½) and fifth in the long jump (4.80m, 15-9). Sophomore Kirsten Man (Kendall Park, N.J. / South Brunswick) and first-year Alisha Anderson (Arvada, Colo. / Ralston Valley) finished seventh and eighth in the triple jump, while first-year Emma Liu (Las Vegas, Nev. / Phillips Exeter Academy) was eighth in the weight throw.

The Judges return to action next weekend at the Riverhawk Invitational at the Track at New Balance.