Track Races to Strong Showing at Dartmouth Relays

Over a month between competitions did not slow the Harvard track team. The Crimson men and women headed to Hanover, N.H. last weekend for the Dartmouth Relays, in which both squads took fourth.

Despite taking only a small group of competitors to the Leverone Field House—many did not return to campus until this week—Harvard coach Jason Saretsky praised his team’s effort.

“I’m really pleased,” he said. “It’s good to be able to knock off the rust after break. It’s a good feeling to know that exams are done and we have nothing to do but train and compete.”

The Crimson earned a pair of IC4A qualifications and showed depth across the board, as numerous athletes logged top-15 finishes in a crowded collegiate and open field. In particular, Harvard’s younger competitors demonstrated their potential.

Rookies Sydnie Leroy, Shannon Watt, and Meghan Ferreira all notched top-10 finishes in their respective events. Leroy took fifth in the pole vault—second among collegiate entrants—while Watt improved by over a meter since her last competition in the shot put, taking fifth with a throw of 13.33 meters.

Ferreira showed consistency in the 60-meter hurdles, putting up similar times through three races to claim eighth with a 9.53 in the finals.

“We had good performances from several of our freshmen,” Saretsky said. “Some of them were great, getting out there for the first time.”

But co-captain Jack Brady and sophomore Sean Geloneck had two of the best Crimson performances, as both athletes earned an invitation to the IC4A meet at Boston University in March.

Geloneck ran a personal best in the 60-meter dash, crossing the line in 6.98 seconds to take sixth. Brady, who qualified for the ECAC meet in his previous outing at the Jay Carisella Track and Field Invitational, continued his strong senior season, hurling the shot put 15.98 meters. His mark earned the co-captain fourth place overall.

“I’m happy with the shot put—it was my best season opener ever,” Brady said. “It puts me on track, but there is still more I can do. I always have very high expectations for myself.”

Another athlete with high expectations delivered in Hanover, as junior Sean Gil captured Harvard’s lone victory, finishing first in the pole vault. Gil’s height of 4.57 meters gave him an edge of 0.15 meters above his nearest competitor.

“Sean Gil winning the meet was a great performance,” Saretsky said.

Co-captain Justin Grinstead and sophomore Shannon Conway also had strong showings in the men’s and women’s 400-meter races, placing third and seventh, respectively.

Yet beyond a number of individual Crimson accomplishments, the meet also provided key opportunities for the entire team.

Leverone Field House will play host to the Heptagonal Championships later this season, and Saretsky wanted his athletes to get a sense of the track.

“For a lot of the team members, it was a chance to get into the facility that we will use for Heps,” the coach said. “We were able to get up [to Hanover] and get comfortable with it.”

In addition, as Harvard readies for the heart of its indoor season, Brady emphasized the importance of early meets like the Dartmouth Relays, which provide additional chances to compete.

“The more repetition we get with training and competing, the better we are going to do,” Brady said. “From now until the end of the year we’re going to have a pretty steady rhythm of training…For the next couple of weeks we’ll be at home, looking to build on what we did [this weekend].”

—Staff writer Max N. Brondfield can be reached at mbrondf@fas.harvard.edu.