ALTHAM, Mass. — The Brandeis University track and field teams finished in seventh place today at the 2014 University Athletic Association (UAA) Championships in the Gosman Athletic Center. The meet was won by the Washington University men and the University of Chicago women.
Brandeis had six individual scoring performances in three different events.
On the women's side, the Judges had two All-UAA performances in the mile run. Brandeis was unable to unseat defending Association champion Emily Cousins of NYU, but sophomoreKelsey Whitaker (Kingston, Mass./Notre Dame Acad.) was able to pass teammate Amelia Lundkvist (So. Portland, Maine/Cheverus) down the stretch as the duo finished second and third in the event, respectively. Whitaker turned in a time of 5:04.51, while Lundkvist came in in 5:05.18.
The Judges' top performance came in the men's triple jump, where 18 of their 23 points were scored. Junior Mo Sidique (Harlem, N.Y. / St. Raymond H.S. for Boys) earned his first career UAA title, winning the triple jump in dominating fashion. Sidique had the meet's top three jumps, including a mark of 14.18 meters (46 feet, 6 ¼ inches) on his final attempt that was nearly two feet longer than his nearest opponent. The distance is ranked 20th in Division III this season. Brandeis also got an All-Association performance from rookie Brian Louis (Elmont, N.Y. / Bishop Ford Central Catholic) who finished third with a lifetime best distance of 13.29 meters (43-7 ¼). Sophomore Adam Berger (Concord, N.H./Concord) added two points with a fifth-place finish, 13.01 meters (42-8 ¼).
(Learn more about Mo Sidique here: http://www.brandeisjudges.com/sports/mtrack/2013-14/releases/Sidique)
Brandeis added two more points in the men's 55-meter dash. Senior Vincent Asante (Bronx, N.Y./H.S. for Arts, Imagination and Inquiry) was unable to pick up his third career title in the event. Asante, who qualified for the finals with the second-fastest time of the prelims, 6.58 seconds, was slow out of the blocks in the finals and ran 6.68 seconds to finish fifth, although his time was just six-hundredths of a second out of second place.
There were two meet records set on the second day of action. In the men's 3,000-meter run, Washington University junior Andrew Padgett erased a five-year-old mark set by NYU's Hany Abdallah with a time of 8:21.99, knocking more than five seconds off Abdallah's mark. Padgett led the only sweep of the top three places in any event in the meet.
On the women's side, Emory junior Debora Adjibaba set a new mark in the 55-meter dash with a time of 7.16 seconds. She eclipsed her previous UAA mark of 7.19 seconds, set last year. That time had been tied with fellow Eagle Jami Edwards, set in 2008.
In the final team standings, Washington University won its fourth title in five years with 160 points, besting Carnegie Mellon (102) for second. Emory finished third with 70 points. For the women, Chicago captured its first title since 2010 – the last time Brandeis hosted UAAs – with 140 points. Emory edged Washington by just half a point for second place, 103.5-103.