After an impressive winter season, the men's and women's track squads transferred that momentum into a strong start this spring. Individuals from each squad turned in dominating performances last weekend at the non-scoring Tufts Snowflake Classic at Tufts University.

The invitational presented a chance for Brandeis athletes to practice for the scoring meets that will occur later in the season.

Alex Kramer '13 stated that the Snowflake Classic helped members of each squad train to be in top form and also pepare for future meets.

"It was just an opener, allowing us to get ready for races down the road and get into mid-season form where it's more important," he said.

Even though it was a non-scoring meet, Brandeis runners gave it their all. In a field that included many Division I runners, Chris Brown '12 and Ed Colvin '14 led Brandeis with exemplary finishes in the 1,500-meter and 5,000-meter run, respectively.

In his first race since his All-American finish, Brown started where he left off, finishing second out of 80 runners with a time of three minutes, 58.83 seconds. Colvin stormed ahead to a first-place finish with a time of 15:08.49.

Kramer was extremely impressed with the performances of both Brown and Colvin, noting they could emerge as two of the premier Division III runners this spring.

"Brown is going to be among the better long distance runners in Division III this spring, while Colvin is a rising star as only a sophomore," Kramer said.

Kramer finished in sixth place in 4:05.00, while Marc Boutin '12 placed right behind him in seventh with a time of 4:05.25 in the race.

In the 100-meter dash, Stanley Ye '15 turned in a solid performance with a time of 11.87 seconds, while Josh Hoffman-Senn '13 impressed in the 400-meter dash with a time of 53.97 seconds.

In the 800-meter run, Mik Kern '13 finished ninth with a time of 1:57.55. In the high jump, Jeffrey Maser '15 finished 11th with 1.81 meters. Mohamed Sidique '15 leaped 6.04 meters in the long jump.

On the women's side, Victoria Sanford '14, Ali Kirsch '14 and Amelia Lundkvist '14 formed an imposing trio among the various Division I athletes in the 1,500-meter run.

Sanford finished in eighth-place in 4:57.65, and Kirsch finished ninth with a time of 4:58.42. Lundkvist rounded out the group of Brandeis runners with a 14th-place finish in 5:02.45.

Lily Parenteau '12 extended her string of notable finishes, starting the spring season off with a third-place finish in the high jump at a height of 1.53 meters. Alyssa Fenenbock '15 made a statement in the javelin throw for the Judges, throwing for a distance of 28.15 meters, where she finished 18th.

Kramer is optimistic about the prospects for both squads in this spring season. After a record-setting winter, in which the Judges sent two athletes to the NCAAs, he believes that even more notable finishes are in store for each squad.

"Everyone seems to be starting off where they need to be," he said. "As long as we keep this pace up, each athlete can do impressive things down the road."

Maser was impressed with the teams' performances, but stated that both squads will have to prepare exhaustively in light of the numerous challenges ahead.

"Although the team has been performing well, it's not an easy transition to make, but as long as we continue to get our work done outside in practice, we're going to be able to adjust perfectly fine."

Both squads return to action this Saturday when they travel to the University of Massachusetts Lowell to compete at the George Davis Invitational.