The Bears protected their home turf Saturday as both the men’s and women’s track and field teams clawed their ways to first-place finishes at the annual Brown Invitational. The men earned 165 points, placing them atop the six-team field. The women, finishing with 173 points, narrowly beat the University of Rhode Island to finish first out of the eight teams competing.

The women’s track team had an incredible weekend at the Stanford Invite in Palo Alto last Friday. That night, Olivia Mickle ’13, who hails from Sacramento, Calif., ran the 10,000 meter in 33.59 minutes, breaking the Brown record by more than 40 seconds. For her record-setting performance and her likely selection for regionals, The Herald has named Mickle Athlete of the Week.

The track and field teams began their outdoor seasons Saturday as the men competed at the Spring Invite and the women at the All-Connecticut meet, both of which were hosted by the University of Connecticut. Though neither meet was scored, both teams turned in strong performances.

The men and women of indoor track won four events last Sunday at the USA Track and Field New England Indoor Championships hosted by Harvard. 

The men’s and women’s indoor track squads competed this weekend at the Valentine Invitational hosted by Boston University, one of the final testing grounds before the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships in two week’s time. Though the meet was not scored, Brown had top individual performances on both teams, both on the track and off.

The indoor track and field teams competed Saturday at the Tribute to Charles Torpey Invitational hosted by the University of Rhode Island. Though the meet was not scored, several members of both teams gave strong performances.  

The men’s and women’s indoor track teams opened up their respective seasons at Saturday’s Alden Invitational, hosted by Brown in the Olney-Margolies Athletic Center. The men won five titles, while the women earned nine top finishes.

Last weekend, the men’s cross country squad finished fifth out of 33 teams competing at the NCAA Northeast Regional Championship meet in Buffalo, N.Y. Dan Lowry ’12, who has been consistently leading the team this season, finished third in the region. He will be moving on to the NCAA National Championship meet Monday, Nov. 21 in Terra Haute, Ind. For racing his way to the top of the region, The Herald has named Lowry Athlete of the Week.

The cross country squads sprinted their way to first place finishes at the second annual Rothenberg Run in East Greenwich last Friday, giving them meet titles for the second straight year.

The men’s and women’s track and field squads split their forces this weekend as a majority of the members competed at Princeton’s Larry Ellis Memorial Invitational, and a small group of athletes traveled down to Louisiana State University for the Alumni Gold tournament.