Campbell leads Judges at NEICAAA

Alya Campbell leaping over a hurdle
Alya Campbell '24 (Photo by Sportspix.com)
Posted: May 14, 2021

NEW BRITAIN, Conn. – Five members of the Brandeis outdoor track and field team took part in the 2021 NEICAAA Championships today, competing against some of the top competitors from Division I, II and III at Southern Connecticut State University.

The Judges' top performance came from rookie hurdler Alya Campbell (Eastchester, N.Y. / Eastchester) in the 100-meter event. Campbell finished third in her heat with a lifetime best of 15.34 seconds. She shaved one-tenth of a second off her previous p.r., and finished ninth in the prelims, missing a spot in the finals by just 0.14 seconds. Campbell was the top Division III runner in the event.

Also setting a personal-best on the day was senior Lydia Harris (Damariscotta, Maine / Lincoln Academy) in the 400-meter hurdles. Harris finished in 15th place with a time of 1:07.03, which nearly one full second off her previous career-best of 1:08.18 and two seconds faster than her previous best time of the season, 1:09.08.

Junior Devin Hiltunen (Quincy, Mass./No. Quincy) just barely missed giving the team a third p.r. on the day, as she ran the 200-meter dash in 26.00, two-hundredths shy of her previous best. Hiltunen finished fifth in her heat and 12th overall, missing the finals by a quarter of a second.

On the men's side, graduate student Jack Allan (Wrentham, Mass./King Phillip Regional) placed 11th out of 23 competitors in the long jump. His top leap was 6.71 meters (22- ¼), not enough to improve on his season-best of 7.07 meters, a distance that was ranked 20th in Division III headed into the meet.

Senior Aaron Baublis (Westborough, Mass. / Westborough) rounded out the day's competitors in the 110-meter hurdles. He was two-tenths of a second off a season-best with a time of 16.12 seconds, placing sixth in his heat at 17th overall.

The Judge will have three competitors in tomorrow's action: senior Andrea Bolduc (Auburn, Mass./Auburn) and junior Natalie Hattan (Sugar Land, Texas/Clements) in the 1,500-meter run for the women and junior Jacob Grant (Rockville Center, N.Y. / South Side) in the 800-meters for the men.