Women’s Crew
The women’s crew team proved why it is the top-ranked program in the nation, kicking off its spring season in a commanding fashion. Over the two weekends of spring break, the Bears faced off against stiff competition in then-No. 1 Ohio State, No. 11 Princeton, No. 17 Radcliffe and Dartmouth, but emerged victorious in both races. Bruno came in first place in nine of 12 events over the break.
At the spring season opener on Lake Carnegie, the first, second and third varsity eight boats, as well as the A varsity four edged the Buckeyes and Tigers. Bruno’s performances were good enough to claim the Class of 1987 Trophy for the 12th time in the award’s 29-year existence.
The following weekend, the team raced closer to home on the Charles River against the Big Green and host Radcliffe — Harvard’s women’s program. Aside from the C Varsity Four, all of the Bears’ boats finished out front.
Bruno will resume competition in two weeks as it travels across the country to Gold River, California and races at the Lake Natoma Invitational. The team will once again share the river with five other strong programs, as boats from No. 2 California, No. 6 Stanford, No. 13 Wisconsin, No. 16 Notre Dame and No. 18 Gonzaga will all be in attendance. But if the past two races are any indication of what can be expected of the boats this season, the Bears need not worry.
Track and Field
Four members of the men’s and women’s track and field teams posted top-10 program finishes at the Raleigh Relays at North Carolina State March 25 and 26.
O’Sha Williams ’16 led the way with a first-place finish as she out-leapt the field of 40 in the triple jump. Shanelle DeJournett ’17 and Carleen Jeffers ’19 posted record-breaking performances for Brown on the women’s side in the high jump and five-kilometer race, respectively. DeJournett’s fourth-place finish at the meet tied for sixth-best in Brown’s history. Jeffers’ 13th-place performance put the rookie in the Bears’ record books with the seventh-fastest time in the event.
On the men’s side, Owen Russell ’19 placed seventh overall at the meet and recorded the fifth-best throw in program history in his first time throwing a 16-pound implement. On the track, Will Sheeran ’16 ran against both collegiate and professional runners in the 5,000 meter race. Sheeran’s 14:01.07 time made him fifth among college runners, 12th overall and tied for the fourth-fastest time in Brown’s history.
Both teams also competed at the VertKlasse Meeting in High Point, North Carolina this weekend.
Golf
The men’s and women’s golf teams left the northeast for warmer locales over the break. The men’s team headed west to compete in the Anteater Invitational hosted by UC-Irvine. The Bears did not fare well on the course, as the squad finished significantly behind the other nine teams at the competition with a tally of 963. Bruno’s closest competitor was North Dakota State, which finished at 932. But the team did find some individual success. Chad Carlson ’17 paced the Bears with a 54-hole 239 to finish 44th overall. After a break, the team will resume competition April 9 at the Princeton Invitational.
The women’s team’s trip was a bit better than its male counterparts’, as the former finished 13th out of 15 teams at the 23rd Annual John Kirk Panther Intercollegiate in Stockbridge, Georgia. The Bears recorded a 947 in the three-day tournament to beat out Louisiana Monroe and Central Michigan, which scored 982 and 994, respectively. Christina Kim ’18 led the way for Bruno. Kim’s rounds of 79, 79 and 76 earned her 40th place individually at the tournament. Sasha Banks ’19 did not trail too far behind her teammate, finishing in 53rd place. After struggling in the second round, finishing in 89 shots, Banks bounced back in the final round with a one-under 71. The team will be on a hiatus from competition until hosting the Brown Bear Match Play Tournament April 16 and 17.
Fencing
The fencing team wrapped up its season last weekend at the NCAA Championships. While the team did not fare well overall at the three-day competition — the Bears finished 23rd out of the 25 teams that competed — the performance from Simon Jones ’16 was a bright spot. For the second consecutive year, Jones finished 12th in the men’s epee. For his performance, Jones earned All-American accolades, also for the second time in his career.
