SPORTS BRIEF: Crimson sends lone runner in preparation for upcoming schedule

With the New England Collegiate Championships just a stone’s throw away from Harvard Yard, the Crimson cross-country squad saw limited action as it prepares for the gauntlet of championships that fills out the rest of the season’s schedule.

Freshman Meg Looney was the sole Harvard competitor at the Franklin Park race, finishing 94th in a field of 309 with a time of 20:30.

“To be honest, we kept New England’s on the schedule so we had options,” Harvard coach Jason Saretsky said. “The gameplan from the start of the season was for the main group to compete at Yale and use this time to train for Heps through to the end of the season.”

And the Crimson will need all the training it can get for the full schedule that lies ahead for the rest of the season. Next weekend, the squad will be split between the Cross Country Pre-Nationals in Terra Haute, Ind. and the 42nd UAlbany Invititational in Albany, N.Y.

Harvard did not compete in the Pre-Nationals last year, but Saretsky wants “to start getting back into looking at the national scene.”

At last year’s Albany meet, the Crimson dominated the competition, winning all four of the team races it competed in and collecting 14 top-five finishes in the individual races.

—DIXON MCPHILLIPS