The men and women’s track and field teams ran strong races at the Tufts University Cupid Challenge this past Saturday, claiming a pair of victories and a handful of top times during the day-long meet.

            The women’s squad captured both of the victories and saw a number of strong finishes from other racers as well.

Kelsey Whitaker ’16 won the 1,000-meter race in three minutes, 2.01 seconds­­- more than a second faster than the second-place finisher. Ashley Piccirillo-Horan ’17 took fifth-place in the same race, stopping the timer at the 3:08.08 mark.

            Kristi Pisarik ’15 won the one-mile run in a time of 5:19.79, a full second ahead of the next runner to cross the finish line.

            Halina Burhans ’18 took home a pair of top-10 finishes in the short-distance races. Burhans took seventh in the 200-meter dash in a time of 27.13 seconds and eighth place in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:01.52. Tove Freeman ’16 claimed 20th and 14th in the two races, coming in at times of 28.39 seconds and 1:02.58 seconds, respectively.

            The men’s squad also saw a number of competitors set new personal bests in addition to strong races overall.

            Jarret Harrigan ’15 set a new season-best for the University Athletic Association in the 3,000-meter run, taking second place in 8:45.30.

            Max Whitmore ’18 and Greg Bray ’15 both set personal records in the 1,000-meter run, finishing at 2:37.22 and 2:37.39, respectively. Whitmore and Bray finished in back-to-back sixth and seventh places in the race.

            “The training that I did in the few weeks leading up to the meet with Greg Bray, who toed the line with me, helped my confidence going into the race—we were hitting really solid times in our workouts and felt strong doing it,” Whitmore explained. “[Coach] Sinead [Evans] seeded me with guys who had faster PRs than I did, so she said to just relax, hang on to them and kick with 200 [meters] to go. And that's what I did—it was a tactically smart race that I'm very happy about,” he continued.

            Adam Berger ’15 took 12th place in both the long jump and the triple jump, landing at 6.04 and 12.58 meters, respectively.

            Quinton Hoey ’17 took a ninth-place finish in the 3,000-meter run, clocking in at 8:55.83.

            Whitmore stressed the importance of staying fresh, with both Division III New England Regional Championships and University Athletic Association Championships scheduled to take place in the next three weeks.

            “The entire team has been prepping for UAAs all season on and off the track, but now—more than ever—little things [matter,] like getting enough sleep and staying hydrated to cheering each other on during workouts,” Whitmore said. “My training hasn't changed much; I'm still pushing hard during practice and doing all of the little things to stay sharp. Right now it's most important just to stay confident. All of the training for UAAs has mostly been done, and now it's just about executing.”

            The Judges will return to action this weekend for the Boston University Valentine’s Day Classic, a two-day meet this Friday and Saturday.

—Noah Hessdorf contributed reporting.