After finishing second place in the University Athletic Association cross-country championships last fall and third place at last year's UAA indoor track championships, men's runners were presented with a golden opportunity to continue their rise to national prominence as hosts of this weekend's UAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. But instead, the Judges finished the home meet last place out of seven teams. "Any time you come in seventh place out of seven teams it's a disappointment, especially when you're at home," Dan Suher '08 said.

The women, who finished fourth of seven teams at the UAAs for the third straight year, were paced by Anat Benun '09, who won the triple jump at the UAAs for the second year in a row.

Washington University in St. Louis emerged victorious on the men's and women's sides.

The men were unable to overcome the loss of several top runners, including distance runner John Guilinger '08, who sat out due to a muscle injury, as well as David Weinstein '08, who is studying abroad.

Weinstein accumulated 18 points in last year's UAAs, including a first-place performance in the 200-meter dash.

Also, former captain Ryan Parker '06, who won the 800-meter run at the same competition last year, graduated last spring.

"There were some key losses from last year's team that prevented us from possibly being as strong as last year," Suher said.

In addition, an injury to Machel Charles '07, last year's 400-meter dash champion, prevented him from performing at his peak, as he was forced to compete wearing a knee brace.

"You could tell that [Charles] wasn't in the same form that he was last winter when he was able to win the conference championships," Suher said.

Still, the men posted three all-UAA performances. Ralph Chery '07 finished second in the 400-meter dash with a time of 50.90 seconds.

Chery also joined Keith Thibault '10, Feodor Melnikov '09 and Charles in capturing third place in the 1,600-meter relay with a time of 3 minutes and 26.86 seconds.

Matt Jennings '08 finished third in the one-mile run with a time of 4:16.92, beating teammates Suher and Joel Sunshine '07, both of whom posted top-five times at last year's championship.

"There was definitely an improvement in the competition from last year to this year, especially in the middle-distance races," Suher said.

In the last indoor meet of his career, captain Mark Bercy '07 placed in the top six in four events, including two sprints and two jumping events.

The women's team picked up the squad's only event victory. After suffering from a pulled hamstring that prevented her from participating in the triple jump most of the season, Benun rebounded Saturday by winning the event with a distance of 11.27 meters.

Benun was the only member of the Judges to win an event over the two-day meet.

"I felt obligated to defend my title from last year," Benun said.

"I was really nervous coming back from winter break."

Benun totaled 18 points over the two days, placing third in the high jump with a distance of 1.61 meters and fifth in the long jump with a leap of 5.05 meters.

Ali Sax '09 finished third in the triple jump with a 10.70-meter performance.

Meaghan Casey '09 turned in an all-UAA performance in the 800-meter run, placing second with a time of 2:22.49.

In the 55-meter dash, Amanda Clare '09 placed fourth with a time of 7.57 seconds.

"This year, in the sprints, it was so hard to get into the finals and the times were so fast," coach Mark Reytblat said.

The only other all-UAA performance for the women came from the second-place distance medley squad of Camille Stevens-Rumann '07, Olivia Alford '08, Casey, and Megan Bisceglia '07, with a combined time of 12:20.97

"Overall, the girls did really well," Benun said. "We lost a lot of people, and we still were able to place fourth."

Benun will compete in the triple jump at NCAA championships in Terre Haute, Ind. this Friday and Saturday, with the men sending their distance medley relay team to the competition as well.