SEASON RECAP: Saretsky’s Team Continues To Improve

For cross country and track and field—two sports dictated mostly by individual results—it is often difficult to measure team success.

But ever since head coach Jason Saretsky brought his coaching expertise to Harvard, it has become apparent just how much both programs have improved in his three years with the Crimson.

In the fall, the cross country team posted impressive results despite fielding a young team comprised mainly of freshmen and sophomores.

“I thought the cross country season went well,” Saretsky said. “The team competed hard and continued to show what Harvard is capable of.”

The Crimson truly stood out in the Heptagonal Championships, where sophomore Claire Richardson, who completed the 5K course in just 17:43.00, finished fourth to lead the women. Pacing the men was junior co-captain Chas Gillespie, finishing fifth overall in the 8K with a time of 24:47.30.

As the indoor track and field season rolled around, the team made strides as well, relying on a fusion of leadership from the seniors and young talent from the freshman class—all working towards the common goal of improving the Harvard program.

“There was never any issue with us meshing together,” co-captain Becky Christensen said. “It was more like everyone wanted to do well. We were really excited to be leading such a great group of freshmen. The seniors set a good example of pushing through all the way to [the end of] your career.”

While the Crimson performed well in numerous events this season, the Battle of Beantown and the HYP meet proved to be the highlights of the indoor season.

The Harvard men, just half a point behind Northeastern with only the 4x400-meter relay remaining, relied on the speed of freshman John Dingus, junior Justin Grinstead, junior Jonathan Meminger, and captain Derek Jones to pull off the stunning upset and capture the Beanpot trophy.

“To go from fourth to all the way to the top this year is really exciting,” Saretsky said. “It gave them a lot of momentum about how competitive and how successful we can be as a team.”

The following week, it was the women’s turn to earn their share of the glory, beating Yale and Princeton by 54 and 18 points, respectively. Christensen moved into second all-time in the high jump record books, clearing 1.91 meters.

“[Winning the Battle of Beantown and HYP] hasn’t happened in a long time,” Christensen said. “It definitely shows that Coach Saretsky is building a much stronger team than he had when he came in. It’s only going to keep getting better.”

The Crimson carried its newfound success into the outdoor season. Rookie standout Nico Weiler continued to dominate his competition, finishing second at the prestigious Drake Relays with a pole vault of 5.30 meters. At the Penn Relays, Gillespie qualified for the NCAA regionals by clocking in at 14:01.99 to finish fifth in the 5K run.

At the outdoor Heps championships, senior Shannon Flahive capped off her career by winning the heptathlon in dominating fashion—185 points ahead of her next competitor. Richardson became the first Harvard runner to claim the women’s 5000-meter title in 19 years, while Christensen became just the third Ivy athlete to win the high jump event all four years.

Despite the departure of many contributing seniors who have made a lasting mark for the Crimson, the program remains in good shape, as the talented underclassmen become one year older.

“For both indoor and outdoor, it’s been a lot of fun, and it’s exciting to see both the men’s and women’s teams continue to take the next step,” Saretsky said.

—Staff writer Kevin T. Chen can be reached at ktchen@fas.harvard.edu.