Track and Field Starts Off Outdoor Season

The Harvard track and field team faced stiff competition in the 86th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays that took place this week at the University of Texas at Austin from Wednesday to Saturday, and the Snowflake Classic hosted by Tufts in Medford, Mass. on Saturday.

The divided Crimson squad faced different levels of competition at events and had varying degrees of success.

86th CLYDE LITTLEFIELD TEXAS RELAYS

The Texas Relays featured athletes from a number of schools from around the country, including nearly all of the top track and field programs. Eight of the top 10 men’s teams in the USTFCCCA preseason rankings were represented at the meet.

Against these talents, it was difficult for the Crimson to make its mark on the meet, but Harvard did have several standout performances in front of the more than 30,000 people who showed up to watch throughout the weekend.

“The Texas Relays is probably one of the most prestigious and competitive meets in the country,” Harvard coach Jason Saretsky said. “It’s a great opportunity for our student-athletes to showcase their talents against some of the nation’s best. I was really pleased that we had the opportunity to send a contingent out there and they represented us very well.”

The Crimson was led by historic performances from freshman Autumne Franklin. Franklin’s times of 13.81 seconds in the women’s 100-meter hurdles preliminary round, and 59.55 seconds in the 400-meter hurdles preliminary round were both personal records, and the 400-meter time put her into the finals, where she finished seventh.

“[Both times] are number two all-time in school history, behind NCAA champ and Olympian Brenda Taylor,” Saretsky said. “For a freshman, she’s competing at an incredibly high level…and there’s a lot more still to come.”

Junior thrower Dustin Brode also had a strong performance for the Crimson, winning the men’s shot put section B event with a throw that traveled 17.23 meters, while senior Mary Hirst earned fourth place in the women’s high jump section B with a 1.70 meter jump.

TUFTS SNOWFLAKE CLASSIC

Facing a somewhat different level of competition at the Tufts Snowflake Classic, the Crimson turned in strong performances, winning several events and taking fifth place overall in the women’s events and fourth overall in the men’s. The teams’ opponents included local rivals such as Tufts, Northeastern, Boston College, and MIT, as well as Ivy League foe Brown, which finished eighth and fifth for men and women, respectively.

“Overall, I was extremely pleased by the meet,” Saretsky said. “There were some real highlights and positives for us to take as we enter the outdoor season.”

The Harvard women’s team was led by junior Olivia Abbate, who won the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.74, over half a second faster than her teammate, sophomore Hannah Nunez, who finished in second place.

Abbate and Nunez also competed in the women’s 4x400-meter relay, where they partnered up with freshmen teammates Ali Monfre and Julia Kee. The quartet finished in first with a time of 4:02, nine seconds better than the closest competitor.

“[Abbate] has shown some great signs of her potential this year,” Saretsky said. “It was great to see her put forward a performance like that.”

Junior Emily Reese also finished first in her event, the women’s 1500-meter run. With a time of 4:32 Reese defeated the rest of the field by just under three seconds.

The men of Harvard also performed well, led by strong performances from sophomore Connor Reck. Reck finished first in the men’s 800-meter run, just ahead of junior Erik Kraus and sophomore Billy Looney, who took second and third, respectively.

“It was pretty fun to win with my teammates,” Reck said. “But it was not unexpected. This wasn’t a huge meet. It was our first meet to get the outdoor season rolling and get some good times going into a big invitational next week.”

Reck went on to anchor for the Crimson in the 4x400-meter relay, which Harvard won. Competing with Reck in the relay were senior Zach Herring, and sophomores Jesaiah Coy and Owen Laub.

“I got the baton just behind the leader,” Reck said. “From there, I just sat on him until the last 150 [meters] and made my move around the outside to finish strong with the win.”

“Connor had a breakout performance today,” Saretsky said. “After a bit of a disappointing indoor season, we are really excited about what’s yet to come for him this outdoor season.”