In an early-season tournament with late-season significance, the outdoor track teams posted several strong individual results but unspectacular team performances. The women's team finished fourth out of seven teams with 80 points, and the men's team came in last place with 66 points at the University Athletic Association championships at Emory University in Atlanta last weekend.

Olivia Alford '08 paced the women's team with career-best performances in the 200-meter and 400-meter dashes, and Mark Bercy '07 performed a solid all-around day for the men with five top-six finishes.

Coach John Evans cited the team's lack of depth and the fact that the championships are held early in the season as obstacles they faced.

"[For] most [of the team] this was only the second race of the year," Evans said. "We came in underprepared. [For] where we are in the season, we're getting better; [I'm] really pleased."

After spending the fall semester studying abroad in Brazil and struggling through the winter indoor track season, Alford returned to form at UAAs, taking first place in the 400-meter dash with a time of 59.09 seconds while finishing second in the dash with a time of 26.46 seconds.

"I was in fourth or fifth until the final stretch [of both races, but] I had enough energy left to kick it in [for a] strong finish," Alford said. "I was in better shape than I thought."

Meaghan Casey '09 continued her strong season, finishing the 800-meter in second place with a time of 2:18.99.

"Going into the [race], there was a lot of pressure," Casey said. "No one wanted to take a lead [early in the race], and I kicked too early."

In the preliminaries for the 800-meter race, Casey took first with a personal-best time of 2:15:15, milliseconds short of qualifying provisionally for the NCAA championships.

Despite a first-place finish in the triple jump, Anat Ben Nun '09 wasn't thrilled with her 11.06-meter distance.

"The conditions were ideal, and I should have jumped further," Ben Nun said.

Katy Agule '09 also finished fifth in the 3,000-meter race, while the women's 4 x 800 meter relay team featured Megan Bisceglia '07, Beth Pisarik '10, Camille Stevens-Rumann '07 and Alyssa Ross '07, who finished third together.

Bercy overcame fatigue and soreness in his hamstring to lead the way for the men's team.

Bercy came in third with a time of 15.65 in the 110-meter hurdles, fourth in the 200-meter dash and sixth in the long jump and triple jump. His 4 x 100 relay team also finished fifth.

Matt Jennings '09 also had an overall solid day, finishing fourth in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 3:55.09, topping the NCAA provisional qualifying time by 0.11 seconds.

"I had mixed emotions about the 1,500," Jennings said.

"It was great to get the provisional qualifying time. I can improve my time before I go to Nationals. I didn't tactically run the race like I'd like to. I let three [runners] get in front of me [at the start of the race] and was unable to come back."

Nationals will take place from May 24-26 at Osh Kosh, Wisc.

The 4 x 400 relay team of Ralph Chery '07, Jennings, Machel Charles '07 and Edward Crowley '10 finished third place in 3:24.26. Jennings stepped in for an injured Fjodor Melnikov '09.

"Jennings ran well [in the 4 x 400 relay]," Charles said. "We don't have a lot of replacements, but we made do."

The 4 x 800 relay team of Geoff Fauchet '08, Jennings, Mike Stone '09 and Dan Suher '08 finished in third place with a time of 7:52.03.

Charles came in second in the 400-meter dash, while Chery finished fourth.

With a time of 15.04.51, Brian McDonald '10 finished fourth in the 5,000-meter run, topping his personal best by five seconds.

"There was a big pack [of runners] running at a solid pace that I could stick with," McDonald said.

The Judges travel to Providence for the Brown Invitational in Providence Saturday at 10 a.m.