In the first track and field home meet of the season, both the men’s and women’s teams finished in third place. It was the 14th straight year that the meet, the Reggie Poyau Memorial Invitational, was hosted at the Gosman Convocation Center. The squads are off to a hot start as the 2016 to 2017 campaign has the potential to be one of the best in recent memory.

The women’s side was particularly dominant on the day, with an overall finish that left them behind the University of Southern Maine and Merrimack College, which in fact is a Division II program. USM came away with a clean victory and almost triple the number of the Judges’ points, while Merrimack only edged the home team by a measly 5.5 points. 

As she has continued to do over the course of her two years in a Brandeis uniform, Emily Bryson ’19 paced the Judges during the meet. The two-time All-American took home the title in the 3000-meter run with an exceptional time of 10 minutes and 14.16 seconds. In fact, the feat was the fifth-fastest time in all of Division III this season. Her sister, Julia Bryson ’19, impressed in her own right with a third-place finish in the race off of a time of 10:36.81. Second place in the 3000-meter run was also earned by a Judge, as Maddie Dollins ’17 seized the silver with a finish in 10:28.95.

The team also performed admirably in the shorter distance competitions. Taking another first-place finish was Doyin Ogundiran ’19, who completed the 800-meter run in a time of 2:24.97. Her time, which was 2.5 seconds quicker than the nearest competitor, is the 19th best in Division III. Ogundiran was at it again in the 4x400-meter relay race, leading a squad that earned second place. She was joined by Arial Nieberding ’20, Lydia Harris ’20 and Kayla Fahey ’20, who together finished the run in a time of 4:16.66, which was just a tenth of a second behind the winners from Merrimack. 

First-years continued to excel for the Judges as Willa Moen ’20 won a first-place finish in the high jump with a score of 1.5 meters. In the weight throwing event, Jordin Carter ’18 placed fourth with a throw of 11.84 meters. Carter also participated in the shot put, earning a solid fifth-place finish off of a clean shot put of 10.52 meters. 

The men’s side also ran extremely well, especially the versatile Irie Gourde ’17. Gourde earned three second-place finishes in three different events. The silver medals came in the 200-meter run, the 400-meter run and the 4x400-meter relay. Also in the second-place relay team were Jeremy Wilson ’17, Erez Needleman ’20 and Jacob Judd ’20. 

Mitchell Hutton ’18 also earned a second-place finish of his own in the 3000-meter run, which he completed with a time of 8:47.46. The time was good enough for the 15th-fastest in Division III so far this season. Continuing in this trend, Aaron Corin ’20 was second in the pole vault. Corin cleared the pole with  a height of 3.8 meters, which is his collegiate best. 

In the short-distance runs, Regan Charie ’19 earned third place in the 200-meter run with a time of 23.75 seconds, while Churchill Perry’s ’20 run of 52.14 seconds in the 400-meter race was also good enough for a solid third. In the mile run, classmates Brian Sheppard ’18 and Roger LaCroix ’18 earned fourth and sixth place, respectively. 

The Judges will next be running the Terrier Classic, hosted by Boston University on Friday and Saturday.