Harrigan leads pack at BU Valentine's Classic

Jarret Harrigan '15 (photo by Sportspix)
Jarret Harrigan '15 (photo by Sportspix)
Posted: Feb 15, 2015

BOSTON, Mass. – The Brandeis University track and field team competed last Friday and Saturday at the Boston University David Hemery Valentine’s Classic.

      The top performance of the meet came from junior Kelsey Whitaker (Kingston, Mass./Notre Dame Acad.), who ran a season-best in the mile with a time of 5:00.97. The time is the second-fastest in the University Athletic Association this season, but is ranked third in the conference because it was run on a banked track. It is also the 17th-ranked performance in Division III this season, putting Whitaker on track to make a fourth career appearance at the NCAA championships. She has twice run at cross country championships and qualified in the mile run in 2014. Senior Kristi Pisarik (Chelmsford, Mass./Chelmsford) qualified for the ECAC Division III Championships in the mile with a personal-best time of 5:14.57.

      In sprinting events, rookie Haliana Burhans (Charlotte, Vt./Champlain Valley Union) ran a personal best in the 400-meter dash with a time of 59.83 seconds, ranking her 10th in the UAA. She also turned in a time of 26.35 seconds in the 200. Junior Tove Freeman (Oakham, Mass. / Quabbin Regional) ran 27.07 in the 200 and 1:00.88 in the 400.

      On the men’s side, senior Jarret Harrigan (Ipswich, Mass./St. Johns Prep) had the squad’s best time of the day in the mile run with a PR of 4:23.52, 17th-best in the UAA this season. Also setting personal bests in the mile run were senior Greg Bray (Duxbury, Mass./Duxbury) in 4:24.08; rookie Max Whitmore (Wayne, N.J./Newark Acad.) in 4:26.67; rookie Roger LaCroix (Waltham, Mass./Waltham) in 4:29.16; rookie Brian Sheppard (Whitman, Mass./Whitman-Hanson Regional) in 4:31.79; sophomore Brad Payne (Westport, Conn./Staples) in 4:33.71; rookie Liam Garvey (West Springfield, Mass./West Springfield) in 4:33.73; and rookie Russell Santos (Marshfield, Mass./Marshfield) in 4:38.12.

      In the 200-meter dash, sophomore Nick Wactor (Oakland, Calif. / Head-Royce) ran a season-best with a time of 23.40 seconds, while running 52.97 seconds in the 400. Classmate Jeremy Wilson (Elizabeth, N.J. / Elizabeth) also ran a season-best in the 400 in 53.21 seconds.

      The Judges start championship season this weekend with the New England Division III Championships at Springfield College.