The men and women’s track and field teams took part in the Sean Collier Invitational on Saturday. The women’s squad led the way in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology-hosted meet with two first-place finishes, while the men’s squad only managed one top-five finish.

Tove Freeman ’16 earned one of the team’s first-place finishes in the 400-meter run, recording a time of one minute and one 71st of a second in the event. Kelsey Whitaker ’16 earned the team’s other first-place finish in the 1,500-meter run, which she completed in 4:49.30. The team had a strong showing in the 1,500-meter run, with Kristi Pisarik ’15 earning third, Kyra Shreeve ’18 earning sixth and Kate Farrell ’17 earning 16th. 

Freeman managed to add a top-20 finish in the 200-meter run, earning the 18th spot with a time of 27.43 seconds. 

“I was really pleased with my performance at the meet this weekend,” Freeman said. 

She continued, saying, “I had my best races of the season, with a season best in both the 200 and 400 [meter runs]. I ended up winning the 400- [meter-run] at the invitational, which was the first time I have ever won an entire event in my collegiate career.”

Alyssa Fenenbock ’15 earned the team an eighth-place finish in the Javelin event with a total distance of 30.61 meters. 

As captain of the women’s team, Freeman accepts the additional responsibilities that come along with the position. “I feel that it is my responsibility to set the example and hold the team to a high standard, which means being consistent and not being complacent,” she said. 

The best result of the day for the men came in the javelin throw, as Jonathan Gilman ’15 secured the third-place finish with a throw of 52.94 meters. Max Berner ’16 followed Gilman in 12th place with a throw of 44.47 meters. 

As was the case with the women, the men had their best performance in the 1,500-meter run. Ryan Stender ’18 led the way for the Judges with a sixth place finish and a time of 4:04.11. 

Overall, 12 men competed in the 1,500-meter run, and none of the Judges finished in the bottom 20 of the run.

Adam Berger ’16 finished with the eighth-best long jump for the men with a distance of 5.97 meters. Mohamed Sidique ’15, the Judges’ top competitor in jumping events, failed to record a legal mark in either the long jump or the triple jump event. 

Unfortunately, the men saw little success in the other events. Nick Wactor ’17 snuck into the top 20 in the 100-meter run with a time of 11.75 seconds, but the men could not record a time in the top 20 in the 200-meter run, the 400-meter run or the 800-meter run. 

In talking about the team’s success, Freeman is quick to praise the work of her teammates. “I look to my teammates, who are all so incredibly motivated and dedicated. We all try to hold each other to a high standard, and I believe that's what has made us so successful,” she said.

Freeman looks to one phrase for motivation in her day-to-day routine: “Train smart and race easy.” The team will have to train smart and race easy in order to have a strong finish to the year.

Both the men and the women will move onto the University Athletic Association Championships next weekend at Emory University in Atlanta to begin the championship season.