From Brandeis University Athletics
The Brandeis track and field team had two stellar NCAA-qualifying performances and one school record today as the Judges competed at the MIT Last Chance Meet ahead of Saturday's announcement of the field for the NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field Championships next week in Wisconsin.
Leading the way for the Judges was a pair of previous NCAA All-Americans, juniors Emily Bryson (Quincy, Mass./North Quincy) and Doyin Ogundiran (Dix Hill, N.Y./Half Hollow Hills East). Bryson, the NCAA D3 Indoor champion at 3,000 meters this past March, moved into third place in this season's rankings in the 1,500-meter run with a winning time of 4:28.68. The time was Bryson's collegiate best by about two-and-a-half seconds and was just 0.15 seconds off the school record held by Grayce Selig '11. With a few more Last Chance meets still to report results, Bryson has a chance to qualify for nationals in both the 1,500 and the 5,000-meter run, an event in which she entered the day ranked 16th nationally. The top 22 women in individual events will compete at the NCAAs.
Ogundiran finished second in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:12.15, which vaulted her into 14th place in the national rankings. She shaved nearly two full seconds off her previous season best. This marked the second year in a row that Ogundiran's performance at MIT launched her into the season's ultimate meet, as she ran a lifetime best 2:11.48 last year at this event. Ogundiran will be aiming for her first individual All-America honor, having won as part of the third-place distance medley relay team indoors.
Also competing for the women was Emily's twin sister Julia Bryson (Quincy, Mass./North Quincy), who placed ninth in the 1,500 meters with a time of 4:42.82, the second-fastest time of her collegiate career.