Holmquest, Richardson Lead Crimson at Regionals

Senior Brian Holmquest and freshman Claire Richardson led the Harvard cross country teams to top-eight finishes at the NCAA Northeast Regional meet on Saturday, rounding out the 2007 cross country season for the Crimson. The men’s team finished seventh in a 34-team field, while the women were eighth out of the same field.

Holmquest, Harvard’s top finisher at the Ivy League Heptagonals Championships two weeks before, finished 23rd overall out of 235 competitors, clocking in at 30:29.95.

“I got out pretty well, pretty controlled,” Holmquest said. “It was a crowded race, but I was in a good rhythm the whole way, so I was never too concerned about my place because nobody really made a huge move.”

Holmquest briefly spent time in the front of the pack, looking to capitalize on a strong two weeks of preparation.

“Right around two and a half miles, in about a 200-meter stretch, I got up into the top five on a little burst down the downhill,” he said. “Looking back, I would have liked to have stayed in the top 10 a little longer...But all things considered, it was a good solid race.”

Three more Crimson runners finished bunched behind Holmquest, led by freshman Dan Chenoweth, who was the second-fastest freshman in the race. Chenoweth finished in 30:54.35, in 34th place and just ahead of senior Andrew Lipkin, who wrapped up his career by finishing 37th in 30:57.95 despite tripping near the end of the race. Sophomore Chaz Gillespie came in 40th, finishing in 31:00.95.

Senior Ryan Hafer wrapped up the scoring, finishing 68th in 31:28.55.

The team score of 201 put the Crimson seventh, third among Ivy schools behind fourth-place Brown and fifth-place Cornell. The Bears were a mere 13 points ahead of Harvard, magnifying the disappointment of Lipkin’s unlucky fall.

“Our top four guys all ran fast,” Holmquest said. “We were all under 31 [minutes]; most years, if you’re under 31, you’re in the top 20. Our region’s really good this year, so we might not have been up as high, but we haven’t run this fast in years.”

Iona won the men’s team event by taking the third, fourth, and fifth spots on the way to scoring just 37 points. Providence finished second, paced by individual winner Max Smith, who finished in 29:58.75 and was the only runner to crack the 30-minute mark.

On the women’s side, Richardson led the team by finishing 22nd in 21:25.45, the second-fastest time by a freshman in the race. Classmate Jamie Olson finished 35th in 21:44.15, and fellow rookie Eliza Ives clocked in at 22:01.00, 51st overall.

“We really worked together well in the first mile,” Olson said. “[We] went out there and tried to get some placement in the pack and stick there, and I think that went really well.

“The big part is working up Bear Cage [Hill],” she added. “I stuck with this one girl, caught up to the mini-pack in front of me at the top of Bear Cage, but I didn’t have that great of a sprint.”

Just behind was senior Lauren Walker, whose time of 22:02.90 was 52nd in the field. Freshman Renata Cummins concluded the scoring by finishing 61st in 22:12.65.

Despite the team’s youth, Harvard benefited by having experience with the Franklin Park course, where the cross country teams had raced twice before hosting Regionals there.

“You know where you need to work, you know the little ins and outs of the course,” Olson said. “It helps when you’re tired to know that you can go up that hill, and you know what’s around that corner.”

The team score of 218 put the Crimson in ninth, fourth among Ivy squads in the race. Providence broke a two-year winning streak by Boston College, taking first with just 73 points and three of the top six finishers, including winner Danette Doetzel. Stony Brook took the other team bid to nationals with 118 points despite not having a single runner in the top 10.

For Harvard, the race marks the end of the season, but excitement is high for future years, especially on the women’s side, where four of the top five finishers and six of the team’s seven runners were freshmen.

“It’s really exciting,” Olson said. “I know we’re pumped about our years to come, but our seniors have been so great. Their leadership has really showed us how to do everything—we really learned everything from them.”

—Staff writer Brad Hinshelwood can be reached at bhinshel@fas.harvard.edu.