Women's 4x400 Relay Sets Program Record

Two weeks ago, the women’s 4x400-meter relay team turned in a stellar performance to set a new school record in the event. Three members of that squad—freshmen Autumne Franklin and Christi Scott and sophomore Gabrielle Scott—joined forces with sophomore standout Erika Veidis on Saturday to take a crack at the all-time mark.

Pitted against national-caliber competition at the LSU Alumni Gold Meet in Baton Rouge, La., they crushed the record. The team crossed the finish line in 3:38.79, nearly two seconds faster than the previous best mark. The performance earned third place for the Harvard track and field team.

“It’s exciting to see two freshmen and two sophomores running times that have never been seen in Harvard history,” Saretsky said. “It was a strong race for them…but I think they all came away from the race knowing that there’s more there. It really bodes well for the championship part of our season.”

The Crimson squad split up once again over the weekend, competing at Princeton’s Larry Ellis Invitational and the Mt. Sac Relays in Walnut, Calif., in addition to the LSU meet.

LSU ALUMNI GOLD MEET

The squad turned in several other strong individual performances at the LSU invitational, including Veidis’ impressive showing in the 800-meter run. The sophomore covered the two laps in 2:06.67, less than a second slower than her personal-best time, which she set at the Harvard-Yale dual meet last weekend.

“Her disposition and her demeanor off the track might give you the wrong impression,” Saretsky said. “When that gun goes off, she has a real passionate and competitive nature.”

Franklin, who has established herself as one of the Crimson’s strongest sprinters in her rookie season, also turned in a couple of strong performances against the deep field at LSU.

The rookie finished in fourth place in the B section of the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.14 and finished in sixth place in the 400-meter hurdles.

“My 400 hurdles time I was very happy with—the actual race itself, I wasn’t.” Franklin said. “When I came across the line, I thought my time was going to be bad…but then I looked at the board and was like, ‘That’s a 58, oh my gosh!’”

LARRY ELLIS INVITATIONAL

With the Heptagonal Championships just two weeks away, Harvard’s throwing corps proved that it could be a dominant force in Ivy competition.

The men’s team’s “big three” of junior Dustin Brode and sophomores Ben Glauser and Igor Liokumovich took home the top three spots in the shot put. Glauser led the way in the event, being the only competitor to eclipse 17 meters with a 17.15-meter heave. Brode earned second place and Liokumovich was third.

“In such an individual sport like track and field, chemistry and the team dynamic can sometimes be overlooked,” Saretsky said. “But with that throwing group...there’s no question they’re pushing each other to be the best that they can be.”

MT. SAC RELAYS

Four of Harvard’s top distance runners traveled to the Golden State over the weekend to compete in the 55th annual Mt. Sac Relays. Juniors Maksim Korolev, James Leakos, and Morgan Kelly, along with senior Samantha Silva, competed against some of the nation’s best in the 5000-meter run.

On the men’s side, both Leakos and Korolev ran sub-14 minute races, as Leakos finished in 13:57.24 and Korolev came in at 13:58.51. Korolev now sits just behind Leakos with the fifth-best time in school history.

Kelly and Silva also impressed at the meet, turning in top-10 all-time Harvard performances. Kelly ran the fourth best time in Crimson history, crossing the finish line in 16:28.98 to earn 12th place. Silva was not far behind, finishing in 16:34.09, which was good for 17th place.

A number of Harvard athletes were slated to run at the MIT Spring Invitational this weekend, but the meet was cancelled due to the shooting that occurred on the campus Thursday night.

“Obviously, it’s been a tumultuous week, [but] I was really proud of the athletes that had the opportunity to compete,” Saretsky said. “We had some really outstanding performances overall.”

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