The men's and women's track and field teams were all over the map this past weekend.

While the majority of runners competed at the Fitchburg State Invitational at Fitchburg State University Saturday, a contingent of four distance runners made their way to Princeton University to compete in the prestigious Larry Ellis Invitational Friday.

Alex Kramer '13 headlined the Judges' performance at the Ellis Invite. The senior finished 36th out of 60 competitors in the Elite section of the men's 1,500-meter run, going the distance in three minutes, 52.92 seconds, besting competitors from notable Division I programs such as Brown University, Syracuse University, Georgetown University and Iona College.

"Competing at night, when the temperature is nice and being in a line with a bunch of the best guys in the country is really exciting," Kramer said. "When you run against better competition, you're going to run faster, so it was a great experience."

Mik Kern '13 competed in the second section of the 1500, placing 18th out of 54 competitors with a time of 3:59.95.
On the women's side, Amelia Lundkvist '14 and Victoria Sanford '14, as they have done all season, pulled together back-to-back finishes in the 1,500.

Lundkvist placed 21st out of 46 competitors in the event, crossing the line in 4:43.48. Sanford was right behind her teammate in 22nd, finishing less than a second back in 4:43.84.
The Fitchburg meet also yielded some impressive performances.

Ed Colvin '14 took fourth out of 42 competitors in the 1,500, clocking in at 4:07.13. Jarret Harrigan '15 wasn't too far behind, taking 10th in 4:13.78. In the women's event, Maggie Hensel '16 placed 10th, finishing in 5:04.13.

She was followed by Nora Owens '16, who finished 13th in 5:18.23, and Rachel Keller '16, who finished 16th in 5:24.69.
Michael Rosenbach '15 led the charge in the men's 800-meter run, taking seventh in 2:00.97. Grady Ward '16 placed ninth in 2:01.96. Greg Bray '15 and Mohamed Sidique '15 placed 11th and 20th, respectively, timing in at 2:02.47 and 2:07.05. Kelsey Whitaker '16 took seventh in the women's 800, crossing the line in seventh in 2:24.24, while Gabriella Guillette '15 took 25th in 2:45.52.

The men's 100-meter dash featured a quartet of Brandeis runners. Jacob Wilhoite '15 took 27th in 12.11 seconds. Galen Karlan-Mason '16 placed 31st in 12.21. Kensai Hughes finished 34th in 12.32, while Chi Tai '16 rounded out the field, finishing 41st in 12.64.

Tove Freeman '16 was the Judges' lone competitor in the women's 100, taking 27th in 14.53 seconds.

Casey McGown '13 was the other female sprinter for the Judges, taking sixth in the 400-meter dash, timing in at 1:02.14.
The Judges featured several other competitors as well. Brandon Odze '16 took 14th in the 400-meter hurdles in 1:07.49.

Adam Berger '15 placed third in the triple jump with a jump of 12.62 meters and took 15th in the men's long jump with a jump 5.80 meters. Hudges placed 18th in 5.68 meters.

Wilhoite took ninth in the javelin, throwing 46.48 meters, just ahead of Jonathan Gilman '15, who took 13th in 42.94 meters.

As the University Athletic Association Championships approach this weekend, where athletes who competed in both meets will join together, Kramer is optimistic that the teams-and particularly the distance contingent-have been making steady progress and are reaching their peak levels.

"We did a big block of training right after the indoor season ended," he said.

"Our mileage was pretty high, and we did a lot of long workouts focused on building strength. In the next few weeks, we'll be doing more pace-focused stuff and tuning up rather than get significantly fitter. We'll freshen up; the mileage will come down a bit."

Following a week of training, the Judges will travel to New York University for the UAA Championships this Friday and Saturday, and given that Kramer and Kern hold the UAA's top two seed times in the 1,500, he's confident that they will perform well.

"I'm honestly more worried about Mik than I am about anyone else," Kramer joked.