Harvard Women Drop Yale in Dual Meet

It’s a clash of titans. It’s a feud that’s raged on for almost a hundred years. It’s been described as the second biggest competition of the year (behind Heptagonals). It’s the Harvard-Yale track and field meet, and this weekend, the women bested the Bulldogs 96-63, while the men fell 112-50 in New Haven.

“In general, this meet went exactly as I thought it’d go,” Crimson coach Jason Saretsky said. “The women did a great job with their win, and the men took good steps to close the gap with Yale.”

The win for the women completes a sweep of Yale this year—the Crimson women beat the Bulldogs in the fall cross country season and the winter indoor season—and Saturday’s win came in large part from sweeps in the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes, the 100-meter hurdles, and the javelin.

Dara Wilson’s 14.39 time in the 100-meter hurdles was not only good enough to win the event, but it also qualified the junior for the ECAC Championships. Classmate Shannon Flahive and rookie Jessica Fronk rounded out the top-three with 14.73 and 15.79 finishes, respectively.

Junior Favia Merritt notched a first-place win in the 100-meter dash, crossing the finish line in 11.98 seconds. Senior Danielle Mirabal finished close behind in the event with a time of 12.05, while junior Brittan Smith completed the event sweep with a new personal-best 12.14 finish.

The trio met a similar fate in the 200-meter dash with Merritt, Mirabal, and Smith again finishing one-two-three at 25.38, 25.72, and 25.86, respectively. The three, along with Flahive, also teamed up to take first in the 4x100-meter relay with a time of 47.18 to Yale’s 49.05.

“It’s a trio of athletes for us that can cover a lot of events and do a lot of damage,” Saretsky said of Merritt, Mirabal, and Smith. “I’m really excited with how’re they’re developing and what they’re capable of not only at Harvard-Yale, but what they can also do at Heps.”

Smith and Flahive also crossed over into the field events, taking first and second with 5.95 and 5.69-meter jumps in the long jump.

Junior Aishlinn O’Callaghan notched five points for the Crimson with her 2:13.46 win in the 800-meter run, while rookie Jamie Olson’s 4:33.04 finish in the 1500-meter run earned her second in the event and an ECAC qualification.

Fellow freshmen Dina Emde and Thea Lee and sophomore Kathryn Orchowski finished second, third, and fourth in the 400-meter hurdles. The trio finished in 1:05.08, 1:05.49, and 1:08.30, respectively.

In the field events, sophomore Eda Karesin, Fronk, and junior Evan Favermann highlighted the Crimson effort, by sweeping the javelin throw event with respective 46.66, 45.54, and 37.96 meter throws.

Co-captain Molly Boyle won the hammer throw with a 46.37 meter toss, while Flahive and freshman Jade Randle earned points at second and third in the shot put with 10.81 and 10.46 meter hurls, respectively. Junior Becky Christensen returned to action after having sat out the last three competitions to claim the top spot in the high jump with a clearance at 1.80 meters.

“The biggest thing with Becky is that she’s just a great talent,” Saretsky said of Christensen’s discretion in selecting meets. “It’s going to be best for her to choose her spots.”

Seniors Clara Blatter and co-captain Sally Stanton provided a one-two punch in the pole vault, both clearing 3.55 meters.

On the men’s side, Yale’s roster proved to be too deep for the undersized Crimson squad.

“Particularly when you’re in a dual meet, if you don’t have depth, then you’re asking athletes to cover a multitude of events and they get stretched thin,” Saretsky said.

Though Harvard captured a sweep in the 500-meter run with co-captain Brian Holmquest, freshman Ryan Neely, and senior Andrew Lipkin finishing at 15:08.58, 15:19.55, and 15:23.17, the Crimson lacked representation in key events—like the 200-meter dash—which prevented it from holding close with the Bulldogs.

Having taken last week off, junior Derek Jones continued his outdoor season dominance in the 400-meter dash, which yielded two consecutive wins prior to last weekend’s hiatus, by claiming the first position at 48.26.

“[Derek’s] starting to come into his own in the event,” Holmquest said. “Once you start winning and you know how that feels, you don’t want to stop.”

Senior Ryan Hafer added a point to Harvard’s team total with his third place finish in the 3000-meter steeplechase, while rookie Dan Chenoweth supplied a tally with his third spot in the 1500-meter run.

Sophomore Justin Grinstead claimed the victory in the 400 meter hurdles with his 53.42 finish.

Freshman Eric Clayman and junior Neville Irani finished one-two in the hammer throw with respective 54.13 and 53.60 meter tosses.

Clearing a 1.95 meter bar, co-captain Alex Lewis matched his personal best and picked up another win for the Crimson.

But depth proved the breaking point for Harvard, as Yale’s deep lineup swept the 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash, 800-meter run, 4x100-meter relay, and triple jump.

“If you’re lacking in certain events, you start losing points to the other team,” Holmquest said.

The Crimson returns to action next weekend with some student athletes traveling to Philadelphia for the three-day Penn Relays and others going to Durham, N.H. for the Wildcat Invitational hosted by UNH.

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