Paul Norton '11 and Suzanne Bernier '10 led the men's and women's indoor track and field teams with a pair of All-New England performances as several Brandeis runners competed in the Open New England Championships at Boston University Friday and Saturday.The meet features the top performers from NCAA Division I, II and III from across the region.

Norton had the team's best performance of the weekend, finishing sixth in the 5,000-meter run. His time of 14 minutes, 49.56 seconds was good for fourth among Division III competitors. Norton's finish also gave Brandeis its only 3 points in the meet, allowing the team to finish 32nd out of 34 scoring teams.

The captain posted his best time in the event in December and has been slowly working to quicken his pace following hip bursitis, which kept him out over winter break and through much of January. His season-best time of 14:42.69 in the 5,000-meter race currently ranks 16th in the nation.

Coach John Evans noted Norton's injuries but also his future.

"He's missed some time and is not as fit as he would want to be, but he'll be fine over the next few weeks," Evans said. "He ran aggressively, and that's really all we can ask for at this point. He ran a tough race."

The two other men's competitors were in the 1-mile race. Competing in his first New England Championships, Alex Kramer '13 finished 18th with a time of 4:17.79. He was just 9 seconds behind the first-place time, and less than 4 seconds off of a top-10 finish.

"Kramer ran a really smart race" Evans said. "He started off in the back and moved up very nicely."

"He's been training for the [3,000-meter run], so for him to have ran so well is really a great indication of his fitness," Norton added.

Also running the mile was Marc Boutin '12, who finished 23rd with a time of 4:20.85.

Bernier had the best performance of the day for the women's sqaud. Her high jump height of 1.65 meters tied for the fifth highest jump on the day, which was the best height of any Division III participant. She earned seventh place overall based on the number of jumps. Bernier just missed her career high and Brandeis record of 1.67 meters, but she still ranks 10th in the country. Bernier's effort gave the women their 2 points of the night, placing Brandeis 30th of 34 schools.

Another highlight on the women's team was Beth Pisarik's '10 12th-place finish in the 1-mile run. Though she did not earn any points, her time of 5:00.11 was good for third among Division III runners and bested her previous personal best by nearly 5 seconds. The time places her in the top 15 in the nation for Division III runners and just missed the cutoff for an automatic invitation to compete in nationals.

"Beth ran a great race and is running really strong heading into these final few weeks for indoors," Evans said.

Marie Lemay '11 finished 15th with a time of 5:04.20.

Lucia Capano '11 was the final Brandeis competitor. She finished 20th in the triple jump, posting a distance of 10.53 meters.

Brandeis chose to bring a small squad to the meet this past weekend, as the team's focus is on the University Athletic Association Championships next weekend at Brandeis. Unlike most of the teams at the recent meet, Brandeis has the conference tournament the weekend after.

"We had other runners who qualified, but a lot of them chose to take this week to train rather than compete in [the New England Championships]," explained Norton. "The team's focus is really on doing as well as we can next weekend, so we brought a small squad to BU."

Those competing at UAAs will include Bernier, who will attempt to defend her title in the triple jump.

The UAA championships will be the team's next meet. It will take place here at Brandeis Friday and Saturday.