Korolev Dominates Northeast Regionals

Cruising to a first-place finish is by no means an easy task, especially when the fastest collegiate runners in the Northeast are racing to keep their season alive. Co-captain Maksim Korolev of the Harvard cross country team did just that on Friday, as he strode across the finish line at the NCAA Northeast Regionals and watched the remainder of the field finish behind him.

While Korolev’s 10k time of 30:11 at Manhattan College put him seven seconds ahead of the second place finisher, he was only giving the crowd a preview of what to expect next week. Korolev has consistently finished at head of the pack this season and his ability to win races has never been in question.

With no guarantee of a trip to Nationals, Korolev helped Harvard earned an at-large bid to travel to the NCAA Championships, to be held at Indiana State on Saturday. Despite Harvard’s sixth-place overall finish at Regionals, Korolev still managed to lead the team to its fist NCAA Championship appearance in over three decades.

“We’re excited,” Crimson coach Jason Saretsky said. “For the first time since 1979 [we are going to nationals], and that’s a long stretch there. We’ve got a great group of guys going and we’re not satisfied just going there, we’re looking to do something when we’re there.”

At first glance, Korolev’s first-place finish suggests an all-out performance from the senior in what could have been his final race. Although Korolev earned the top time at the meet, he maintained that he could most certainly have run the course at an even faster pace.

“I was just trying to stay conservative,” Korolev said. “I wanted to win, but Coach told me just stay conservative…. The [front] group was together the whole time at a pretty slow pace, and I just put on a burst there at the end to win by a few seconds.”

Nonetheless, the 32-team field selected to compete at Nationals shouldn’t expect the same approach from Korolev come Saturday. Though Korolev still had more in the tank at Regionals, he plans to turn on the burners this weekend.

“Nationals, we are going all out,” Korolev said. “We have eight days between this race and Nationals and it’s the only time we do 10k [races]…. That’s why the strategy was to be conservative at Regionals.”

Normally, Harvard enjoys a two-week period between its 8k races, which allows the runners to rest and prepare. Regionals and Nationals, however, are both 10k races and have only a week of time between them, so the approach is much more demanding and different.

“I’m taking a day off for the first time in a long time this week,” Korolev said. “My workout will be shorter and running a lot less miles, just trying to be fresh for the race.”

Korolev is hoping to earn a top-five finish, as he faces the fastest collegiate runners in the country. But Saretsky has confidence in his veteran’s ability to compete with the best and believes that Korolev has trained and performed well enough to finish among the top runners at Nationals.

“[NCAA Regionals] is an incredibly competitive field that includes the entire Northeast region and some of the best cross country programs in the country,” Sarestky said. “For him to go out there and run that race as relaxed and as confidently as he did really speaks to where he’s at with his training and how much he’s put into this.”

Korolev also set a conference record earlier this year, posting a 23:28.2 to win the Ivy League individual title at the always-competitive Heptagonal Championships in a field 95 runners. Korolev, who earned USTFCCCA All-Region honors this year, will look to keep his spectacular final season alive this weekend, as he enters his final race in a Crimson uniform.

“It’s been a surreal senior season,” Korolev said. “The team making Nationals and beating Yale in the beginning of the year has been amazing and made for a great senior year.”

Korolev has been one of the keys to the Crimson’s success, which beat out league rival Yale earlier this year in its first dual meet and has captured an impressive three top-10 team finishes. Friday’s race was merely confirmation of the captain’s ability to lead Harvard’s program to new heights with his extraordinary speed.