Men's, Women's Track and Field Win Battle of Beantown

If there was any uncertainty about where the Harvard track and field team stood in comparison to local rivals, the Crimson’s performance on Friday likely put it to rest.

Both the men’s and women’s squads cruised to victory at the Battle of Beantown meet, held at Harvard’s own Gordon Indoor Track, dominating Northeastern, Boston University, and MIT. The Crimson men finished with 191 points, 34.5 more than second-place Northeastern, while the women earned 196 points on the day, besting BU by 20.

“I thought we competed really well,” Harvard coach Jason Saretsky said. “I was very, very pleased with how both of our squads competed. It was a good team competition, and we had a number of individual highlights as well.”

Crimson freshman Jarvis Harris did his part to provide some of those highlights at Friday’s meet. The rookie ran the 60m hurdles in a blistering 8.11 seconds, breaking the meet record and the 11-year old school record.

“The beginning of my race felt a bit slow,” Harris said. “But the competition picked up, and I had to run faster.”

But having his name in the record books in one event was not enough for the Ama, La. native.

Harris went on to win the triple jump with a personal-best leap of 14.42 meters, setting the meet record in that event as well.

“I can tangle with the best of them,” Harris said. “I can go out there and give them a run for their money.”

The rookie has certainly earned the recognition of his coaching staff.

“He has a phenomenal work ethic,” Saretsky said. “You can just see his confidence growing every week.”

Harvard’s group of throwers continued their trend of excellence at the Battle of Beantown. Freshman Ben Glauser and sophomore Dustin Brode finished in first and second place, respectively, in the shot put. Besting their nearest competitor by more than two feet, Glauser and Brode seemed to be in a league of their own on Friday.

“[Glauser and Brode] are training really, really hard right now,” Saretsky said. “They have their eyes on the prize, on bigger things down the stretch of the season.”

As the Crimson readies for its most important meets of the indoor season, it may need to rely on some of the team’s newest members. For fans of Harvard athletics, these additions to the track and field team may seem a bit familiar.

Sophomore football players Andrew Ezekoye and Damani Wilson, along with classmate Connor McCarthy of the Harvard soccer team, made their collegiate track and field debuts on Friday. The trio went right to work, with Wilson taking first place in the 60-meter dash in a meet-record 6.83 seconds. McCarthy and Ezekoye also competed in the event, finishing in third and sixth place, respectively.

“Those three all bring a great dimension to our program,” Saretsky said. “I wish we had more time with them, but we’re starting to see what they’re capable of and just beginning to scratch the surface with them. I hope that working with us helps them in their other sports.”

Though Saretsky indicated that Wilson, Ezekoye, and McCarthy have some work to do on their technique and form, he is very impressed by the work ethic and dedication that they have displayed in their brief time with Harvard track and field.

Away from the track, junior Nico Weiler once again excelled in the pole vault. Weiler cleared 4.95 meters to take home first place in the event.

But it was Weiler’s female counterpart that etched her name in the record books on Friday.

Sophomore Allie Pace set the all-time record for the Crimson and the meet recordin the pole vault with a mark of 3.81 meters, besting the second-place finisher by nearly seven inches,

Senior middle-distance runner Meghan Looney competed in an unfamiliar race at Friday’s meet. Looney, who earned first place in the 800-meter run at last week’s invitational at the Armory in New York, N.Y., toed the line in the 500-meter run at the Battle of Beantown.

“[Looney] was a little nervous to run the 500,” Saretsky said. “She knew she was strong, but she was not sure how much of her speed was there.”

In spite of her pre-race jitters, the veteran finished in first place in the 500, completing the race in 1:14.19.

To Saretsky, Friday’s results indicate the progression of the track and field program in the past few years.

“The first year of the meet, we finished dead last,” Saretsky said. “It’s great to see that our athletes have come such a long way.”

—Staff writer Dominic A. Martinez can be reached at dmartinez@college.harvard.edu.