Harvard’s Heps Expectations Come Up Short

Looking to make it big in the Big Apple, the Crimson track and field teams chased after the Ivy League title this weekend at the Heptagonal Championships at the New York City Armory. Harvard, who recorded a fourth-place finish at last year’s tournament, came into this contest with high hopes, looking to capitalize on a strong start to the season.

Unfortunately, the momentum did not seem to swing in the team’s favor, as the men finished fourth and the women fifth in a strong showing at the Armory.

“We’ve moved up the ranks in the last couple of years,” said Crimson coach Jason Saretsky on both teams’ performances. “We’re a young team who pulled out some big points this weekend, and we look very promising for the future.”

Coming into the tournament, Harvard boasted a dozen of top-10 Ivy League performances in a variety of events this season. But, once in the Armory, history went entirely out the window. At the end of the day, only results talked on the track.

The men got off to a scoring start Saturday as senior Dan Chenoweth grabbed third in the 3,000 meter (8:08.07). Junior pole-vaulter Nico Weiler was next to strike for the Crimson, pulling out a fourth-place finish following his 4.9-meter clearance in the pole vault. Not to be outperformed, Harvard’s weight throwers grabbed additional points for the team. Leading the weight-thrower squad were co-captain Ablorde Ashigbi (17.72), rookie Dustin Brode (17.14), and senior Eric Clayman (17.10), who all managed to place in the top 10, finishing fourth, fifth, and sixth, respectively.

For the women, the field team came to town to win some points. Freshman Adabelle Ekechukwu proved to be the standout competitor, posting a second-place finish in the weight throw for a 17.41-meter performance.

The Crimson also saw success in the long jump, boasting a fourth-place finish (5.81) from sophomore Olivia Weeks, as well as the pole vault, where freshman Adriann LaChance’s fifth-place performance captured three more points for the team.

Closing the first day, the Crimson captured two top-six places in the pentathlon. Junior Nicole Silva ammassed 3,294 points for fifth place, and Reed came in sixth with 3,291—both results adding five more points to Harvard’s tally. This left both the men’s and women’s teams with 17 points each for the day.

Coming into Sunday, the men’s squad stood in third place, needing a strong showing in all of its events to truly make a challenge for the title. In the 500-meter race, junior John Dingus earned fourth place with a time of 1:03.34. Speeding through the 800-meter race, Hill captured sixth place for the team. The distance squad continued to prove the team’s strong suit, ending the 4x800 event sixth overall. The distance medley relay paced its way to third place.

Then, in another strong showing from the field team, Brode and sophomore Edward Brucker finished third and fifth, respectively, in the shotput, while freshman Kobi Rex finished fourth place in the high jump. But Harvard’s total of 41 points kept it shy of an overall first-place finish, ending fourth overall in the competition, and only four points shy of third-placed Ivy foe Dartmouth.

‘‘We finished fourth last year and with a similar margin between us and third place,” said co-captain and middle distance runner Brian Hill. “It was a little disappointing to not get placed into the top three. But we had some encouraging performances, and brought in some big points.’’

For the women, the second day of competition proved just as exciting as the first. Freshman Meisha Brooks finished fourth and qualified for ECACs, with a 400-meter time of 56.01.

Co-captain Thea Lee followed suit in the 800-meter, placing sixth and qualifying with a time of 2:11.82. In the relays, both the 4x400 and 4x800 teams combined for 10 points, finishing third and fourth, respectively.

The women ended the day with 48 points, a fifth-place finish, and two second-team All-Ivy accolades for Ekechukwu and Hirst for their strong performance.

“Overall, I was pleased with both our men’s and women’s squad,” Saretsky said, “No one person could really be singled out. We competed very hard, and had a lot of standout performances, which led to success.”

The Crimson will be back in action during the ECAC and IC4A Championships on March 5-6.