In the non-scoring St. Valentine's Day Invitational at Boston University this weekend, the Brandeis men's and women's track teams again took it easy as the Judges prepared for the Division III New England meet, now less than a week away. The event was a unique experience for the Judges. Because Boston University's indoor track is one of the best in the country, the meet drew several Division I and Division II schools and even individual runners sponsored by Nike and New Balance.

Similar to last week's Tufts Invite, the coaches again took a conservative approach, caring mostly about the preparation for next weekend's meet.

"If somebody's 100 percent ready, they would race," coach Mark Reytblatt said "We don't have to prove anything now, we just want to be ready for the [UAAs]."

Despite the cautionary approach, the men's team showed promise.

In the 800-meter race, Ryan Parker '07 provisionally qualified for the Division III national championships with a time of 1:53.86, finishing in 23rd place.

"It was the first time I raced full out the whole season," Parker said. "I definitely wanted to run a little faster but I'm happy with it."

Parker's time currently ranks as sixth best in Division III.

"Whether that time will stand up to get me in [to the NCAAs] remains to be seen, but I expect to be running significantly faster for the next few weeks," he said.

In the one-mile race, Joel Sunshine '07 ran a season-best 4:19.60, improving his time by 12 seconds and finishing in 45th place. Dan Suher's '08 time of 4:22.72 ranked as his personal record and placed him 51st out of 115 runners. John Guilinger '08 earned his season best time of 4:25.61 and came in 64th. Matt Jennings '09 and Rod Fleming '07 ran 4:27.75 and 4:34.08, coming in 73rd and 88th, respectively.

"I started a little farther back in the pack than I wanted but I felt really good the whole time," Sunshine said.

Had it not been for some slight confusion about the number of laps, Sunshine said that he could have placed first in his heat.

"On the seventh lap I started kicking, thinking I only had one lap to go," he said. "But I crossed the line and they rang the bell, which told me I had another lap."

Ralph Chery '07, competing for the second time since this season after an early injury, finished the 400-meter race with a time of 50.82 seconds, improving his time from last week by almost two seconds. Also racing in the 400-meter were Feodor Melnikov '09 and Alex Smith '09, who finished with times of 51.65 and 54.07 seconds, respectively.

On the women's side of the competition, even greater precaution was taken to preserve energy for the New England meet.

"A lot of girls didn't compete, we're saving them," Reytblat said.

Megan Bisceglia '07, whose time of 5:11.79 in the mile race placed her in 27th out of 96 runners, registered the highest finish for the women's team.

In the 800 meter-race, Meaghan Casey '09 placed 48th out of 109 runners with a time of 2:20.73. Alyssa Ross '07 finished just behind Casey, coming in 52nd place with a time of 2:22.21.

"It's not my best time and I kind of got boxed-in during my race," Casey said. "I put myself in bad positioning and I didn't have the kick I normally have at the end."

In the 400-meter race, Jane Farrell placed 90th out of 120 with a time of 1:02.90.

In resting much of the team and taking a cautionary approach this week, Reytblat said he hopes both the men and women will be more than ready in the New England Division III meet next weekend and the UAA championship March 3.

"There are no excuses once we get there," Reytblat said.