Both the women's and men's outdoor track teams competed at the Eastern College Athletic Conference Division III Championships in Springfield, Mass. last Friday. The men's team finished in a four-way tie for 51st place of 56 teams with two points, focusing more on improving individual performances than team achievement due to its small size and lack of depth. The women's team, however, had a few more bright spots, taking 17th place out of 56 teams with 13 points while also trying to build upon its members' personal scores. Moravian College won both the men's and women's meets, with 64.50 and 67 points, respectively.On the women's side, the team's best race of the meet came in 1,500-meter run, where Beth Pisarik '10 turned in a second-place performance at 4 minutes, 36.22 seconds, almost six full seconds behind the first-place winner, junior Jacqui Wentz of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Still, Pisarik was able to score eight of the Judges' 13 points with her impressive finish.

Joining Pisarik with top finishes in the 1,500-meter run were Grayce Selig '11, Marie Lemay '11 and Erin Bisceglia '12, all of whom finished in the top 14 of the event. Selig was sixth with a time of 4:41.96, recording three points for the Judges, while Lemay was ninth at 4:43.31, one slot shy of bringing in points for her team. Bisceglia took 13th place in the race with a time of 4:54.00.

"They're so strong. They're a great core group that worked together and really hard throughout the season to get to where they were," runner Katy Agule '09 said.

Agule was responsible for the Judges' two remaining points on the day. She earned them by taking seventh place in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 11:27.87. Agule finished almost 45 seconds behind the event's winner, Ursinus College senior Christa Johnson, who turned in a 10:45.92 race.

Agule improved her time in the event by a full 13 seconds from her last run at the Open New England Championships in Amherst, Mass. May 8, where she finished 19th with a time of 11:41.14. However, her time last weekend was still not as impressive as the finishes she had earlier in the season at the New England Division III Championships May 1 or the University Athletic Association Championships April 26.

Agule was second at the UAA championships with a time of 11:25.79 but recorded her best time of the season in the event at the New England Division III Championships, where she finished third with a time of 11:15.15.

"Honestly I was kind of disappointed with my race because I was hoping to run faster," Agule said. "I was pretty tired with finals and end-of-the-semester things like that, so I definitely think that was a factor. I felt much better the week before, so that was good."

Lucia Capano '12 gained experience in her rookie campaign as the Judges' only jumper to compete at the ECAC Championships. She was 16th in the long jump and 14th in the triple jump with leaps of 4.85 meters and 10.87 meters, respectively.

On the men's side, the team also stockpiled its runners in the 1,500-meter run but were not as successful as the women's team in recording high finishes and tallying team points. Though the team had three runners end up in the top 10 of the event, it came away with only two points for the entire day.

Mike Stone '09 had the best finish, taking seventh place with a time of 3:59.51, recording the Judges' only two points. Classmate Matt Jennings '09 was ninth in the event with a time of 4:01.27, while Chris Brown '12 was just one second behind him in 10th place at 4:02.28. Stone, Jennings and Brown were the only men's runners to place in any event.

"It was a good meet," Stone said. "We highlighted our strength in the 1,500 on both sides."

The NCAA Division III Outdoor Track Championships will be held at Marietta College in Marietta, Ohio starting Thursday and lasting through Saturday. The Judges will send at least one runner, Paul Norton '11, to the National Championships but may also send Pisarik.

Pisarik is waiting to hear from the NCAA if she will be able to compete because the NCAA is not yet sure how many runners it will be able to invite to the National Championships. Stone said Pisarik should hear from the NCAA this week.

Norton, the men's top runner, will race in the 10-kilometer run, an event that Stone said he could have done very well in at the ECAC Championships had he not sat out last Friday's meet to rest for the NCAAs.

"[Norton going to NCAAs] is a significant event for our team," Stone said. "[Norton] could've won the [10-kilometer run or the 5-kilometer run last] weekend definitely, but he was preparing for Nationals."

Stone also said that Norton's teammates are excited to see him compete on the national stage.

"[Norton has] put a lot of hard work in and is totally committed, and this will be a great moment for him," Stone said. "Everyone's happy to see him go, and this is just the start for him. He's still improving.