Crimson Opens Strong at Husky Carnival

As was the hope heading into the weekend, the young members of the track and field team proved they will be important catalysts for Harvard’s overall success this season by competing near the top at the Husky Winter Carnival at Boston University’s Reggie Lewis Center on Saturday.

“It was a good meet,” Crimson coach Jason Saretsky said. “A great start, and it was great to see the freshman get out those jitters in their first time in the Crimson singlet.”

The freshman foursome of Lauren Leon, Magda Robak, Shannon Conway, and Kim O’Donnell took third in the women’s 4x400-meter relay, clocking in less than a second behind the BU team at 3:57.43.

“We’re especially happy with how they did,” women’s co-captain Becky Christensen said. “They’re going to add a lot of depth to our 400, which we haven’t had in a lot of years.”

And on the men’s side, newcomer Nico Weiler finished in a three-way tie with unattached Northeastern freshman Brian McGovern and Northeastern alum Mike Couch in the pole vault with a clearance of 4.72 meters.

“Nico’s a tremendous athlete,” Saretsky said. “Working off a short approach, he shut it down early.”

Senior Shannon Flahive tied for fifth in the 200-meter dash, sharing the 26.03 mark with the Terriers’ Erin Catarius, while sophomore Katrina Drayton finished at 26.31, good enough for eighth.

In the women’s 55-meter hurdles, senior Dara Wilson qualified third, finishing just .04 seconds behind Northeastern’s Katherine Sherman, but overtook Sherman in the final to finish as the top collegian—second overall—with a time of 8.50. Classmate Geneva Trotter also took seventh in the finals of the event with her time of 8.76.

Christensen continued her dominating ways in the high jump, clearing the 1.78-meter bar to win the event outright, while rookie Nicole Sliva and sophomore Jade Randle both cleared 1.52. Sliva made the clearance in fewer attempts, giving her sole 10th-place in the event, while Randle finished in a three-way tie at 11th.

“All the high jumpers and the pole vaulters were taking short approaches, so you’re just looking at it like just another day of practices,” Christensen said. “It was good practice for everybody. It just worked out for me to get a high mark with the short approach.”

Newcomer Stacey Jung placed eighth in the pole vault with her 3.05-meter clearance, while sophomore Paige Martin and freshman Christine Reed finished back-to-back at 14 and 15 with clearances of 2.90 and 2.75 meters, respectively.

Bounding 5.66 meters in the long jump, senior Brittan Smith was the top collegian in the finals, finishing second behind unattached Tahari James, while classmate Elissa Reidy finished in the 12th spot with a 5.07-meter jump.

Freshman Lauren Barber rounded out Harvard’s showing with an 11th-place, 11.17-meter toss in the shot put.

For the men, the 4x400-meter relay “A” team of seniors Derek Jones and Jonathan Wofsy, junior Justin Grinstead, and freshman John Dingus also had a successful day, taking first place in the event with a time of 3:19.30, more than three seconds ahead of second-place New Hampshire.

Rookie Tyler Funk and junior Jonathan Brito finished 10th and 12th in the high jump with respective clearances of 1.88 and 1.78 meters.

Joining Weiler in the pole vault, sophomore John McVey cleared the 3.96-meter bar to finish in a three-way tie for ninth.

Separated by just 0.07 meters, junior Graham Infinger’s 6.59-meter jump and freshman Jacques Barjon’s 6.52-meter jump earned the two sixth and ninth place finishes, respectively.

Junior Jack Brady’s 14.71-meter toss in the shot put earned him seventh in the event. In the weight throw competition, the Crimson boasted four top-10 performances as men’s co-captain Neville Irani threw a fifth-place 15.69 meters, Brady a sixth-place 15.68 meters, sophomore Ablorde Ashigbi an eigth-place 14.96 meters, and classmate Eric Clayman a ninth-place 14.54 meters.

“The depth in the throws is definitely going to be a strength for us,” Saretsky said. “It’s great to see that the group has improved as a whole.”

All told, Saturday showed that Harvard is where it wants to be heading into the indoor season that sports five home meets at Gordon Track, including the Heptagonal Championships at the end of February.

“This is a great meet to start off with because there’s a wide range of teams,” Christensen said. “If you can do well against these teams, then you know you can compete for the rest of the year.”

—Staff writer Dixon McPhillips can be reached at fmcphill@fas.harvard.edu.