Instead of focusing on outrunning sometimes superior opposing schools at Saturday's Terrier Classic at Boston University, the members of men's and women's indoor track teams essentially competed with themselves. The result of this strategy? Several runners achieved personal-best times in their races. "The idea is to get out there and get in a heat that's going to allow you to run as fast as you can," Dan Suher '08 said.

"Nobody thinks they're going to win the entire thing, but you need to try to get a personal best. We were really successful in that."

On the men's side, John Guilinger '08 posted a career-best in the one-mile run, placing 34th of 93 runners with a time of 4 minutes, 18.82 seconds. Matt Jennings '09 finished right behind Guilinger in 35th with a time of 4:18.98. Guilinger and Jennings both qualified for the Division III New England Championships, ECAC Championships, and All-New England Meets.

"[Guilinger] has been vastly improving over the last year," Suher said.

Suher qualified for the Division III New England Meet, as well, with a time of 1:59.49 in the 800-meter run.

In the 200-meter dash, captain Mark Bercy '07 also posted qualifying times for the D-III New England Meet, ECACs and All-New England Meets, placing 43rd out of 83 runners with a time of 22.79.

Rookie Brian McDonald '10 complemented the success of his senior teammates, qualifying for all three postseason meets in the 3,000-meter run. McDonald finished 51st of 95 runners with a time of 8:49.51.

Coach Mark Reytblat wasn't very concerned with where the Judges placed in comparison with the other teams at the meet; rather, he focused on the actual times his runners posted.

"Where you placed is not important," Reytblat said. "You just wanted to get your time down. It all depends who you're running against."

Members of the women's team also stressed the importance of individual performance at BU.

"It's definitely an individual meet," Camille Stevens-Rumann '07 said. "It's a great track to run on, and a lot of people get personal records, so it's a great opportunity."

Stevens-Rumann, who placed 22nd out of 61 runners in the one-mile event, qualified for the D-III New England Meet with a time of 5:12.10. Other Judges who ran the event, including Emily Terrin '08, captain Megan Bisceglia '07, and rookie Beth Pisarik '10, also met the 5:32 qualifying standard for the New England Meet. Terrin's time of 5:23.94 was also a personal record.

"Everybody ran pretty strongly," Bisceglia said. "The highlight was probably Camille's race in the mile."

In the 800-meter dash, captain Alyssa Ross '07 finished in 2:27.26 and was also a D-III New England Meet qualifier. Other Brandeis qualifiers included Katie Agule '09 and Mary Schillinger '07, who completed the 3000-meter dash in times of 10:47.51 and 10:51.16, respectively. Olivia Alford '08, who recently returned from a semester abroad, finished with a time of 1:03.39 in the 400-meter dash to also qualify.

The usually dynamic tandem of Ali Sax '09 and Linda Kropp '07 didn't compete in the triple jump after suffering injuries in the long jump.

"I just didn't jump well, but we all have our off days," Sax, who suffered from a back injury, said.

The track teams will compete next at Tufts University Saturday at 10 a.m.