M., W. Track Thrill At Home

It was bound to be a wild finish for the Harvard men’s and women’s track teams as both entered the final event of Saturday’s home finale with just a few points separating them from Yale. Princeton was also competing in the women’s meet, but trailed by 19.

Fueled by the energetic and frenzied crowd, co-captain Alaina Aguanno, freshman Laura Maludzinski, junior Sam Piper and junior Beverly Whelan placed second in the two-mile relay, allowing the Crimson to eke out a one-point victory over the Bulldogs.

The Harvard women found themselves behind early in the final relay, but a strong second leg by Maludzinski helped them gain significant ground.

“I didn’t try to sprint to catch up with them right away and burn myself out,” Maludzinski said. “I just told myself to take it bit by bit. It was kind of hard to judge how much ground I was making up, but I felt like I kept on narrowing the gap each lap.”

After Maludzinski propelled the Crimson into second place, Whelan and Piper simply had to maintain their positions.

But for the Harvard men, second place in the two-mile relay was not enough for the victory. Yale won the event by two-tenths of a second and the meet by eight points.

With his teammates cheering him on at every turn and a roaring crowd behind him, men’s co-captain John Traugott ran with Yale’s Robert Lobue for nearly the entire anchor leg, but was outdistanced in the last few meters.

“I was trying to get right on Lobue,” Traugott said. “I knew that I had to go for it at some point, or I’d regret it, so I went with a little more than a lap to go. I wanted it more than anything else, so I was really shattered when Lobue crossed first.”

Despite the heartbreaking loss, Traugott sees Saturday’s outcome as motivation for improved future performances.

“Close ones hurt the most,” Traugott said. “We are going to have to get past this setback and translate the emotion and disappointment that everyone felt into positive reinvigoration in training.”

Women

The two-mile relay was just one of many impressive performances for the Harvard women on Saturday, as they had six first-place finishes on the day.

The Crimson shone in the field events, where senior Helena Ronner won both the long and triple jumps with distances of 5.64 meters and 11.66 meters, respectively.

Junior BreeAnna Gibson won the shot put with a throw of 13.65 meters and finished second in the weight throw behind classmate Johanna Doyle, who won with a throw of 16.69 meters.

Junior Andrea Li capped off the field events by placing second in the pole vault, clearing 3.55 meters.

Co-captain Ashley Furst, senior Kendra Barron and freshmen Anne Hillier and Adanna Scott ran a solid mile relay, winning in 3:52.74.

Their victory did not come easily, as they trailed early before Furst and Barron sparked a comeback in the middle legs.

“Kendra ran an incredibly strong leg,” Hillier said. “She caught up a lot of ground and created space for me.”

Scott, who ran the first leg of the relay, also won the 400-meter run in 57.44 seconds.

Harvard must build on this impressive outing as it gears up for its biggest meet of the season, the Heptagonal Championships at Dartmouth in two weeks.

“This win came at a perfect time in our season,” Furst said. “It shows that our team is peaking at the correct moment.”

Men

Despite the narrow defeat, the Crimson men can take encouragement from several solid performances, as six athletes took first place in their events.

Senior Chris Lambert won the 60-meter dash in 6.85 seconds, while classmate John Meeker finished just behind him in 7.18 seconds.

In a heated battle in the high jump, freshman Cliff Emmanuel narrowly lost to Jihad Beauchman of Yale based on the number of jumps each took to clear 2.01 meters.

Traugott had a solid run in the 1000 meters, winning in 2:29.34. Senior Matt Seidel was victorious in the 3000-meter run in 8:22.54.

Freshman Samyr Laine, who has overwhelmed his competition throughout the season, won the triple jump with a distance of 14.82 meters. Laine jumped more than a meter and a half farther than anyone else.

“It feels great to have an excellent first collegiate season,” Laine said. “I still feel that I have a lot of improvement to make. I want to do well not only in Ivy League competition but also on a national level.”

Laine and the rest of the Crimson men are looking to build from last weekend as they approach the Heptagonal Championships.

“Dwelling on this loss won’t help anyone get better,” Traugott said. “But realizing just how much each one of our performances matters for our team’s success will make us stronger.”

—Staff writer Samita A. Mannapperuma can be reached at mannapp@fas.harvard.edu.