M., W. Track Take Second in Cold Outdoor Meets

The heat of fast, blazing feet warmed the ground at the McCurdy track despite the cold windy air on Saturday, as the men’s and women’s track teams each placed second in their season’s first outdoor Ivy meets against Brown and Dartmouth.

“Running today was tough, it was freezing,” said junior sprinter Chris Lambert, who won the 200-meter dash. “The wind is in your face coming down the straight.”

While the weather conditions were not ideal for the Crimson athletes, both teams participated in heated competitions, with both teams losing by narrow margins. The Dartmouth men won with 91 points, followed by Harvard with 85 and Brown with just 27. On the women’s side, Brown edged out Harvard 77-73 and Dartmouth brought up the rear with 42.

“We still ran fast, considering the wind,” said co-captain Kobie Fuller. “But everybody came fired up and the cold didn’t phase us.”

Harvard Men

One jump cost the men a victory on Saturday—a false start leading to the disqualification of Lambert from the 100-meter dash.

“I got thrown out of the race and it was my birthday,” Lambert said.

Falling to Dartmouth 91-85, this split second action did have lasting consequences.

According to several observers, a Dartmouth runner actually committed the false start, and he had a big grin on his face after Lambert was called out.

Lambert, whose personal best in the 100 is nearly a full-second faster than Saturday’s 11.13 second winning time, could have earned Harvard five points with the victory and reduced Dartmouth’s total by three had he won the race. So instead of winning the meet 90-88, Harvard came out on the losing end.

“An unfortunate thing happened on the men’s side with the disqualification of one of our best sprinters,” Coach Frank Haggerty said. “That lost us the meet.”

While Lambert’s disqualification was questionable, the outstanding performances of several athletes was not.

Lambert took the lead role of a Crimson one-two-three finish in the 200 meters—along with Fuller and sophomore Brandon Smith—with a time of 21.69 seconds.

Fuller also sprinted his way to a first-place finish with a time of 47.84 seconds in the 400-meter dash.

“The guy [Tyler Haney] from Dartmouth was a threat but I beat him by a second so I think he’s pretty scared now,” Fuller said.

Other first place finishers in the track events included senior Shawn Parker in the 110-meter hurdles and sophomore Alasdair McLean-Foreman in the 800. Seniors Richard Bravin and Nnamdi Okike finished at the heels of Parker and McLean-Foreman, respectively.

Co-captain John Cinelli registered a personal best to win the 3000-meter steeplechase. Even after cutting seven seconds off of his previous personal best, Cinelli believes that his increased mileage training will allow him to make further improvements as the season progresses.

“As a whole, we must look to stay strong in the track events and focus on improving our performances in the field, which was our Achilles’ heel at the Indoor [Heptagonal Championships].”

With three first-place and one second-place finish in the field, the events that had room for improvement are gaining ground.

Senior Aaron Snead cleared 4.20 meters in the pole vault while junior Taylor Buckley cleared 1.90 meters—both heights were good enough for a first place finish.

But the stand-out performance in the field was senior thrower David Grimm. Grimm finished fourth in the discus with a personal best of 45.14 meters. Tallying five more points for his team, Grimm won the shot put on his last throw of 15.81 meters—another personal best.

“Hopefully this is just the start of a good season,” Grimm said. “I am looking forward to improving as both the weather and my technique get better.”

Harvard Women

While the men were more dominant overall on the track, the women made their presence known in the field.

“Overall I think the throwers were rather impressive,” said co-captain Nicky Grant. “Everyone put in top performances today as demonstrated by the personal bests that were reached.”

Two of these personal bests were registered by the top two finishers in the hammer, Grant and sophomore Johanna Doyle. Grant threw for 55.80 meters while Doyle threw for 55.16 meters.

“It’s the first time we’ve had two throwers finish over 55 meters in a single competition,” Haggerty said.

Grant placed first in the shot put as well, throwing 13.69 meters, while also placing fourth in the discus.

“After a good but slightly disappointing indoor season, things are definitely looking up,” Grant said.

The remainder of the season looks promising for other throwers as well.

Sophomore Breeanna Gibson threw for 41.68 meters to land a first-place finish in the discus throw. Gibson also registered a fourth place standing in the hammer and the shot put.

The Crimson targeted another one-two finish in the javelin throw, led by sophomore Alexandra Petrone and junior Lauren Hirshon. Petrone’s 41.00 meter throw was a personal best and set a school record.

Junior Helena Ronner herself added points to the Crimson’s effort with wins in both the long jump and triple jump.

“I was ecstatic about my long jump, considering the time of year and weather conditions,” Ronner said.

On the track, freshman Victoria Henderson finished first in the 400-meter hurdles and was followed by junior Amanda Shanklin.

But it was co-captain Carrie McGraw who ran away with a first place finish in the 400 meters—her 57.52-second finish gave her over a second and a half advantage over junior Ashley Furst, the second-place finisher.

Also as anchor of the 1600-meter relay team, McGraw quickly caught up to the Dartmouth anchor and puled out a come-from-behind victory.

“We thought our greatest competition would come from Brown, so Dartmouth was a surprise,” said McGraw. “They gave us a great challenge and I think all four of us ran strong, competitive legs.”

With thoughts of warmer weather ahead, the Crimson hopes to be strong contenders for Outdoor Heps in May.

The men’s and women’s track teams next travel to Columbia for an Invitational on April 13th.

Dartmouth 91, M. Track 85, Brown 27

at McCurdy Track

100: 1. Smith (D) 11.13, 2. Meeker (H) 11.18, 3. Morris (B) 11.74. 200: 1. Lambert (H) 21.69, 2. Fuller (H) 22.25, 3. Smith (H) 22.27. 400: 1. Fuller (H) 47.84, 2. Haney (D) 48.80, 3. Smith (B) 49.61. 800: 1. McLean-Forman (H) 1:56.68, 2. Okike (H) 1:57.24, 3. Johnson (B) 1:58.15. 1500: 1. McArdle (D) 3:55.62, 2. Taylor (D) 3:55.92, 3. Seidel (H) 3:57.31. 5000: 1. Gaudette (B) 14:32.50, 2. Nichol (D) 14:33.97, 3. Emond (B) 14:43. 03. 110 Meter Hurdles: 1. Parker (H) 15.47, 2. Bravin (H) 15.77, 3. Diggs (B) 15.78. 400 Meter Hurdles: 1. Abdur-Rahim (D) 54.72, 2. Bravin (H) 55.99, 3. Abdur-Rahim (D) 56.81. 3000 Meter Steeplechase: 1. Cinelli (H) 9:27.7, 2. Shaw (D) 9:30.1, 3. Strong (D) 9:45.5. 4 by 100 Relay: 1. Harvard 41.49, 2. Dartmouth 42.12, 3. Brown 43.10. 4 by 400 Relay: 1. Harvard 3:22.73, 2. Dartmouth 3:24.84, 3. Brown 3:25.03. High Jump: 1. Buckley (H) 1.90, 2. McCarthy (D) 1.90, 3. Griggs (D) 1.85. Pole Vault: 1. Snead (H) 4.20, 2. Katayama (B) 4.05, 3. Guernsey (D) 3.60. Long Jump: 1. Smith (D) 7.21, 2. Hughes (H) 6.85, 3. Griggs (D) 6.79. Triple Jump: 1. Marucheck (D) 14.26, 2. Thomas (B) 13.84, 3. Schrock (B) 13.38. Shot Put: 1. Grimm (H) 15.81, 2. Hermer (D) 15.78, 3. Gelardi (H) 14.46. Discus: 1. Hermer (D) 46.68, 2. Russell (B) 46.42, 3. Mozer (D) 45.44. Hammer: 1. Hermer (D) 50.46, 2. Mozer (D) 46.74, 3. Brown (D) 41.22. Javelin: 1. Hall (D) 57.94, 2. McClure (D) 52.74, 3. Patton (H) 52.02.

Brown 77, W. Track 73, Dartmouth 42

at McCurdy Track

100: 1. Hall (B) 12.83, 2. Gora (H) 13.09, 3. White (B) 13.12. 200: 1. Tharp (B) 27.14, 2. McElveen (B) 27.41, 3. Compas (B) 27.51. 400: 1. McGraw (H) 57.52, 2. Furst (H) 59.44, 3. Tremblay (B) 1:00.45. 800: 1. Garber (D) 2:13.78, 2. Kosub (B) 2:16.60, 3. Compas (B) 2:18.83. 1500: 1. Hale (B) 4:33.20, 2. Morey (B) 4:34.91, 3. Niell (D) 4:35.88. 3000: 1. Dingman (D) 9:56.92, 2. Morey (B) 9:59.81, 3. Ettensohn (D) 10:10.30. 100 Meter Hurdles: 1. Rowinski (B) 16.00, 2. Andrew (B) 16.03, 3. Damm (D) 16.06. 400 Meter Hurdles: 1. Henderson (H) 1:04.31, 2. Shanklin (H) 1:05.08, 3. Kitton (B) 1:06.50. 4x100 Relay: 1. Brown 48.46, 2. Brown 48.75, 3. Harvard 49.24. 4x400 Relay: 1. Harvard 3:57.92, 2. Dartmouth 3:58.36, 3. Brown 4:04,30. High Jump: 1. Rowinski (B) 1.60, 2. Daoust (D) 1.60, 3. Krizan (D) 1.55. Pole Vault: 1. Penner (B) 3.20, 2. Contursi (B) 3.20, 3. LI (H) 3.05. Long Jump: 1. Ronner (H) 5.72, 2. Blake (B) 5.50, 3. Damm (D) 5.45. Triple Jump: 1. Ronner (H) 11.54, 2. Bosa-Edwards (B) 11.44, 3. Hall (D) 11.04. Shot Put: 1. Grant (H) 13.69, 2. Verdeyen (D) 12.68, 3. Lynch (B) 12.59. Discus: 1. Gibson (H) 41.68, 2. Lynch (B) 40.20, 3. Verdeyen (D) 38.10. Hammer: 1. Grant (H) 55.80, 2. Doyle (H) 55.16, 3. Verdeyen (D) 51.10. Javelin: 1. Petrone (H) 41.00, 2. Hirshon (H) 38.36, 3. Damm (D) 33.28