This weekend, the wind came rolling in, and so did the men and women of Brandeis cross country. Both the men's and women's teams ran strong and hard in what turned out to be a very good meet. On Saturday, the Judges participated in the seventh Annual James Early Invitational at Stanley Park in Westfield, Mass. There, the women's team finished a strong third out of 26 teams while the Brandeis men followed through placing eighth out of 23.On the women's side, the star of the show was none other then Brandeis's own Mariko Tansey Holbrook '03. On the 6,000 meter women's course, the Brandeis senior dominated her way to a first place winning time of 21:12.30. Her average mile, at 5:41, put her ahead of the rest of the pack. Her nearest competitor was over three seconds behind.

Men's captain Matt Griego '05 called Tansey Holbrook's race "ballsy." "She lead the entire way," he said. "And eventually outkicked the second place girl, who hung on the whole way," he said.

"I would have liked to have made a more decisive move at the two-mile mark," Tansey Holbrook said. It would have "put a lot of distance between myself and Marissa Clapp" who finished in second place.

The rest of the women's team followed suite by running hard, getting the places and the points necessary for a third place finish. Caitlin Malloy '03 scored points for Brandeis, placing ninth with an exceptional time of 22:40.50. Samatha Miller '04 (23:20:80) came in 18th, while rising newcomer , Sarah Romain '06 (23:45.40) placed 31st. Sarah Beckwith '05 (24:00.10) and Rachel Ackerman '04 (24:24.80) placed 39th and 58th respectively. Jessica Curlew '03 was in 64th place with a time of 24:41.30.

Trinity College came in first in the team results with Tufts University in second. Nonetheless, Brandeis finished extremely well, only four points behind Tufts. If anything, this meet should warn the rest of the UAA watch out for the girls in blue come Nov. 2, when the UAA Cross Country championship meet is to be hosted by NYU in New York City.

Not to be outdone, the Brandeis men made their presence a force to be reckoned with as well. The team placed eighth out of 23 teams.

"The meet on Saturday had mixed results for the guys team," Griego said. "I ran my best race of the season to this point. Aaron (Skolnick '04) had a great race, p.r.-ing on a tough course."

Greigo showed everyone how it was done with a strong seventh place finish (25:38.30) on the 8,000 meter course. He was just a little over 26 seconds from the first place time.

Next in line for Brandeis was another speedy sophmore. Skolnik finished 30th with a time of 26:45.10. Greg Farrell '03 (27:27.50) came in strong with a 56th place finish. David Nathan '04 (27:46.50) also did well finishing in 73rd. Freshman members of the team, Ryan Parker '06 (28:16.60), A. J. Hutchinson '06 (28:48.50) and Sam Seigel '06 (29:08.40) were 94th, 119th and a 161st, respectively.

The Brandeis men faced tough competition and came out strong. They placed eighth amid competitive cross country teams like Tufts Universtity and MIT, which placed first and second, respectively. With so many underclassmen on the team, however, it looks as though in the futurem Brandeis will become a dominator in the sport.

The next meet is Sunday. They will be running the Mayor's cup in Boston's Franklin Park. The Judges look to continue doing what they do best: Winning.