Dinneen, Clever, Ciollo Pace M. Track

The Harvard men's track team began a youth movement this year, but it also enjoyed some success along the way.

The best individual performances belonged to junior Darren Dinneen and sophomore Chris Clever, who both traveled to Buffalo for the NCAA Championships last week. Last year, according to co-captain Joe Ciollo, no Harvard men went to nationals.

The Crimson also upset Yale in the outdoor season, 89-73, and the team jumped one spot from last year's performance at indoor Heptagonals to sixth and two spots at outdoor Heps to fifth. Heps is the equivalent of the Ivy League championships.

"Upsetting Yale outdoors in the meet they were favored to win, to beat them at home, that was pretty great," Ciollo said.

Nevertheless, Ciollo says he will remember the freshmen most.

"I think the most positive thing about this track season was probably the infusion of youth into the team that provided both immediate results and promised success for the future," he said.

Kobie Fuller, Osahon Omoregie, Kevin Worrell, John Cinelli, and Nnamdi Okike all contributed and all have the potential to improve.

"I think it was definitely a successful season because people that were expected to perform well in-league did, placing at Heps in their respective events," Ciollo said. "We also had a lot of people improve a lot from last year."

As an example, Ciollo cited junior steeplechaser Dave Martin, who "established himself as one of the best steeplechasers in the East." He also praised thrower Tarek Hamid and shotputter John Kraay's development.

Perhaps the most dramatic example of improvement was Dinneen, who entered college as the No. 2 high schooler in the country in his event but has since been slowed by injuries.

"Dinneen went from being a guy struggling and not being able to use his full potential and finally reached the point where he could train consistently and become one of the best half-milers in the nation," Ciollo said.

Dinneen's 800-meter time at the St. John's Twilight Meet gave him the No. 19 position, and the top 19 got the bid for NCAAs.

Clever broke his own school record in the javelin at Heps, where he threw 228'6 to win. The second-closest thrower in Harvard history is over 15 feet behind.

He has been resting his shoulder injury and has not thrown all-out for much of the season, but he will probably be able to put forth his best effort at NCAAs.

"I don't think there was any one time we could say we were disappointed," Ciollo said. "A championship is always something that you dream of and try to achieve, but I don't think we fell short of our realistic expectations. There was no big disappointment like that."

Another school record that went down was the indoor 500-meter, where Ciollo broke his own record several times during the year.

Ciollo won New Englands with a time of 1:03.1, extending his lead over the second-fastest Harvard 500-meter runner to .73 seconds.

Sophomore Arthur Fergusson moved into third on the school triple-jump list with his 50'8.75 at outdoor Heps.

"He has made a claim to be one of the best jumpers in school history in both the long and triple jump," Ciollo said.

The 4x400 relay also established itself as third-best in school history. It ran 3:12.73 at outdoor Heps, the fastest Harvard time in 14 years. Omoregie, Fuller, Dinneen, and Ciollo combined that day.

Only Ciollo will not be back next year.

"The thing I keep thinking of is how exciting it was to have a lot of young, talented guys," Ciollo said. "These guys will carry the team for the next three years and will lead some day, and it was great to be part of that from my perspective."

The team will miss cross country captain Scott Muoio and Ciollo next year. They were two of the most consistent point-scorers for the Crimson.

"Losing Muoio will create a void for the distance guys because they didn't have that much depth to begin with, and we will need some young blood next year," Ciollo said. "I think we have guys who are ready to step up and make a name for themselves."

Ciollo described Muoio as a warrior that finished well and finished where he wasn't necessarily supposed to. "He always seemed to exceed expectations," Ciollo said.

"He was probably the most consistent performer on the team," said Muoio of Ciollo. "He was consistent in practice and meets. He brought a high energy level, high spirits."

"He was a good motivator. He got the entire team more excited. He also brought a level of seriousness that oftentimes was lacking," he added.

In the fall, cross country started well, placing second out of 14 teams in its first week of competition at the Fordham Invitational. But after a fourth-place finish at New Englands, the team fell to an eighth place--next to last--finish at Heps.

"We had an average season. We started off pretty well, and then we didn't quite live up to our expectations for a number of reasons," Muoio said. "We lost a few people, and we just didn't run as well as we were capable of in the last few weeks."

So although the year was not spectacular for men's track, it did have its high points and thankfully few lows.

"I wouldn't trade the last four years in for anything," Muoio said. "A lot of people drop off [from the program], but when I look back, I'm glad for the memories and things that will mean a lot to me even if I didn't realize it at the time."