After strong finishes throughout the spring season, Chris Brown '12 and Kate Warwick '12 came to the New England Division III Championships at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology with high expectations on May 5. The two seniors did not fail to disappoint; they earned top-three finishes in their respective events and received All-New England honors.

Both runners also used the intense competition at the meet to prepare for their races at the 2012 NCAA Division III Outdoor Track championships at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, Calif. this weekend.

Brown was Brandeis' top finisher of the day, finishing second in the 800-meter run with a time of one minute, 51.01 seconds, which was less than two-tenths of one second behind the first-place finisher.

While Brown was somewhat disappointed by finishing second in the race, he still was impressed by his performance. "It wasn't my usual event, and I was just trying to go for the win," he said.

"It was a good race, and [the first-place runner] just cut me at the line by a little."

Brown recorded the sixth-fastest time in the event in Division III this season, which put him in the national top 50 and in a NCAA qualifying position.

With his third-ranked time in the 1,500-meter run, Brown can even compete for All-American honors in two events - the 800 - and 1,500-meter runs.

Warwick ran only her second 10,000-meter event of the season at the meet, but she still excelled, placing in third with a time of 36:22.29.

Warwick, only eight seconds behind the first-place finisher, cut more than 12 seconds off of her University Athletic Association Championship time and moved to 17th place in the NCAA standings.

She has already made a statement at two previous NCAA tournaments this school year, finishing 48th at the cross country meet and 12th in the 5,000-meter run during the indoor season.

While there were only two Brandeis scoring finishes at the meet, two other members of the men's and women's outdoor track and field teams fell just short of All-New England honors.
On the women's team, Lily Parenteau '12 finished 13th in the high jump, where she jumped 1.53 meters. Amelia Lundkvist '14 also impressed in the 1,500-meter run with a 7th place finish at 4:46.65.

For the men, Kensai Hughes '14 placed 10th in the long jump with a distance of 6.22 meters, only 4.75 inches from taking eighth place and scoring for the Judges. Mik Kern '13 finished in the 800-meter run with a notable finish of 1:57.01.

Overall, the men's squad finished 24th, while the women placed 21st in a field of 50 teams.

Brown stated that after the NCAA Championships, he will miss the invaluable experience of running for the Judges but also noted that his running career will not end with the NCAAs.

"I'm going to miss the team and the coach, and it is going to be different to not see them every day," he said.

"However, it would be really nice to continue running after college. I think I'll have a successful career, especially all that has happened in the past year."
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