At the Bowdoin Invitational Jan. 17, jumper Anat Ben Nun '09 was the first member of the women's indoor track team to qualify for the NCAA Division III Championships in the triple jump event. Last Saturday at the Tufts Invitational, a nonscoring team meet, Ali Sax '09 achieved a milestone, joining Ben Nun on the NCAA Championships qualifying list.Sax jumped a personal-best 11.26 meters to qualify for the NCAA Championships in the triple jump for the first time in her collegiate career, as Ben Nun and Sax finished the triple jump at the Tufts Invitational in first and second- place, respectively. Ben Nun took the event with a jump of 11.67 meters.

"[Ben Nun and Sax] were outstanding," coach Mark Reytblat said, "[Ben Nun] increased her jump by 1 centimeter and [Sax] for her first time ever qualified provisionally for the NCAAs."

Ben Nun was competing in her third meet this season after surgery on a torn meniscus in her knee ended her 2007 to 2008 season.

The last time Ben Nun and Sax competed together at the Tufts Invitational was Feb. 3, 2007. The duo failed to take the top two places in the event, instead taking second and third place, respectively, and Sax said this year the two were prepared to do better.

"It felt pretty good," she said. "I was joking with [Ben Nun] that Tufts is bad luck and we have to break the curse, and I was happy that we both performed well at Tufts and broke the curse there."

In other field events, Suzanne Bernier '10 took fourth-place in the high jump at 1.60 meters. Sax also captured a fourth place finish, leaping 4.98 meters in the long jump to end the day as the only competitor for the Judges to finish in the top four in two different events.

The women's team had a strong overall performance, placing in distance and sprint events as well.

Beth Pisarik '10 led the squad, winning the one-mile run with a time of 5 minutes, 10.4 seconds. Brandeis displayed its depth in recording seven of the top 14 one-mile times-Katie Warwick '12 (third), Grayce Selig '11 (seventh), Katy Agule '09 (eighth), Alyssa Pisarik '12 (10th), Molly Shanley '12 (11th) and Hannah Lindholm '11 (14th).

"[Pisarik] ran an awesome race," distance coach John Evans said. "She is in great shape now; there is definitely a lot more in [her] and how fast she can run."

In the sprints, Michelle Gelman's '11 fourth-place finish in the 200-meter race paced the Judges.

"She ran the 200 in 26.80, [seconds, which proves] she is in excellent shape," he said.

Julia Alpaio '10 finished third in the 800-meter race in 2:23.16, narrowly losing to sophomore Lindsay Pinkham and rookie Susan O'Connell of Stonehill College. Pinkham won the race in 2:21.48, while O'Connell took second place in 2:22.25.

Rookie Chris Brown '12 was the men's team's only winner on the day. He took the one-mile run in 4:22.

"[Brown] is really talented, and he's just getting used to the training, but he is going to be really good. He has tons of potential," Evans said. "It was good to see him end very strong in the race this weekend."

In the 1,000-meter race, Matt Jennings '09 and Devon Holgate '11 finished third and fourth, respectively. Joe Otto, who is unaffiliated with any school, took the race in 2:31.23, with Keene State sophomore Jeff Trethewey finishing in second place just 0.02 seconds behind Otto. Jennings missed out on first by 0.85 seconds, finishing the race in 2:32.10, while Holgate came in just behind him at 2:33.18.

Holgate missed last season due to injury and said that he is glad to be racing again and has improved since returning to action.

"Not being injured really helps," he said. "I'm running more than I have before, mileage-wise, and that is definitely helping [my running]."

Sam Donovan '11 was 11th in the 1,000-meter race at in 2:36.64, and captain Pat Gregoire '10 finished 10th in the 200-meter dash with a time of 23.68 seconds.

Both teams will next travel to Boston University Saturday at noon for the Valentine's Day Invitational.