Held this past Saturday, the Tufts Last Chance Meet gave some athletes one more chance to potentially qualify for the NCAA Division III National Championships to be held this weekend in Naperville, Ill.

And while several Judges competed simply to have one more opportunity to race before spring rolls around, there was one Brandeis athlete who punched his ticket to the biggest race of the season.

Alex Kramer '13, who is currently ranked No. 14 in Division III in the one-mile run, qualified for the championship to be held on Friday and Saturday after his second-place finish in that event at the Tufts Last Chance Meet. He finished second out of 16 runners in that event, running the distance in four minutes, 12.66 seconds.

Kramer finished less than one second behind the event winner, senior Pat Grimes of Amherst College, who clocked 4:11.72. His time, a new personal best, ranks him fourth out of New England milers in Division III.

"After running the time I did this weekend at Tufts, I really thought I had a good chance to qualify," said Kramer on Monday in an interview with the Justice. "I'm looking forward to it and hope to enjoy it."

Though Kramer rightly stole the plaudits with his performance, he was not the only Judge to shine. Mik Kern '13 also was impressive in the race, finishing eighth with a time of 4:18.41.

Kramer was quick to praise the presence of Kern and Chris Brown '12, who finished third in the same event at the 2012 NCAA Division III Indoor Championships, the reaching his goal.

"Mik got second to me in the mile at the (University Athletic Association) Championships," he said. "He has been the perfect training partner. We've done pretty much all of our workouts together, all of our training together, this year. He's been a huge help to me.

"Chris has been one of my best friends. He ran 3:43 in the 1500-meter race outdoors, which is equal to about a 4:01 mile. He did very similar workouts last year as I did this year, so when you start to do the same things and follow the same training, you start to get confidence in yourself."
Having competed in the one-mile race most of the season, Ed Colvin '14 recorded a new season-best time in the men's 3,000-meter run. The junior took second in the 15-lap race, clocking 8:43.73, less than three seconds behind race winner Bill Way.

The women's distance medley relay team, fresh off a win at the University Athletic Association Championships on Feb. 22, put forth a strong effort over the 4,000-meter distance, taking eighth out of nine competing squads. Kelsey Whitaker '16, Casey McGown '13, Amelia Lundkvist '14 and Victoria Sanford '14 ran the 800-meter leg, 400-meter leg, 1,200-meter leg and 1,600-meter leg, respectively, coming in at 12:15.57 seconds.

In addition to Kramer and the aforementioned Distance Medley Relay, Brandeis featured another UAA Championship winner in Vincent Asante '14, who took first in the 55-meter dash in 6.55 seconds.

After a few weeks of recovery, the rest of the Judges will compete in their first outdoor meet on March 30, when they will again travel to Tufts for the Snowflake Classic.

However, for Kramer, all of his focus turns to this weekend and putting forth a strong effort at the season's biggest occasion for Division III collegiate athletes.

"I really think I have a good shot to be All-American," he said.
"There's a preliminary race on Friday where a few of the competitors (there are 13 competitors in the preliminary race) are knocked out. However, the seed time gap from me (he is the ninth seed) to the third seed is around one second. I know that anything can happen in a big race like that and that the guys that I am competing against are very tough, but I think I have a good shot (at earning All-American) if everything goes well."

With good preparation, lots of rest, intense focus and maybe even a little bit of luck, Kramer could return from the Midwest with that distinction.