Flahive Breaks School Record

A week after beginning their seasons with a loss to Boston College, both the women’s and men’s indoor track and field teams had an opportunity to warm up for the punishing upcoming season. Although no team scores were kept at this weekend’s Harvard Invitational, several Crimson athletes stood out above a field that included individuals from 31 collegiate and community teams.

Sophomore Shannon Flahive registered perhaps the most impressive accomplishment of the weekend, placing second in the grueling women’s pentathlon. Her performance broke the Harvard women’s record in that event and was good enough to qualify her for the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships.

The pentathlon requires athletes to compete in the 60-meter hurdles, high jump, shot put, long jump, and 800-meter run, with only 30 minutes of rest between events. First-year Harvard coach Jason Saretsky said that he was especially pleased by Flahive’s performance, considering that this was “her first run of the season.”

On the men’s side, co-captain Christian Ayers won the collegiate men’s weight throw and set a new personal best by throwing the weight 16.55 meters. Ayers said that he was “really excited” about his new personal best, and looks to be among the best throwers in the Ivy League this season. Other standouts included sophomore Becky Christensen, who won the women’s high jump, and the men’s 4x400-meter relay team, which placed first in their event.

Although the team could be proud of its individual accomplishments, the Harvard Invitational primarily presented a unique opportunity to younger athletes and teams from around the Greater Boston area. Many of Harvard’s athletes did not participate this weekend and helped staff the meet instead.

Coach Saretsky noted that the Invitational gives athletes from the community a chance to use Harvard’s impressive facilities, in addition to helping some Crimson athletes to “knock off the rust” at the beginning of the season. Ayers also emphasized that the team’s younger members got to experience the “excitement of a big meet atmosphere,” hopefully preparing them for future competitions.

The team’s most important early-season tests will come in two home meets in January, when it faces Northeastern in a dual meet and Brown and Cornell in a tri-meet. Although Coach Saretsky maintained that the nature of the Harvard Invitational makes it hard to get any indication of the team’s overall improvement, he said that certain notable individual performances were certainly a good sign. Specifically, “field events continue to be an area of strength on both the women’s and men’s teams,” he said.

Ayers expressed similar optimism, adding that the team is “more promising than in the last couple of years.” With a new coach more focused on recruitment and a slew of promising freshman, including Jack Brady, who placed seventh in the men’s shot put, the program appeared to be moving in the right direction.

If the Harvard Invitational is any indication, the season could be a major step in the indoor track team’s rebuilding process.