Okwelogu, Nunally Carry Track and Field in Texas

For the Harvard track and field team, there’s no such thing as spring break. Only five days after the NCAA Indoor Championships earlier in the week, the teams were back at it again with two meets commencing the start of the outdoor season.

Traveling down to Houston, Texas, experience won the day as senior Nikki Okwelogu and co-captain Julian Nunally each racked up three gold medals in their respective events.

“It was a great experience to open up the outdoor season alongside most of the team in Houston,” said sophomore pole vaulter and javelin thrower Nicole Trenchard. “The meet was an opportunity to brush off the dust from indoors and compete in some of the events only offered during the outdoor season. On top of a week of incredible weather to train in, it was the perfect way to reset from midterms and the indoor championship season.”

COUGAR SPRING BREAK INVITATIONAL

Hosted by the University of Houston at Tom Tellez Track, the team traveled to the meet to compete as individuals, since the team totals were not being tallied. Despite the lack of team competition, several athletes set personal bests.

Included among those was Nunally, who brought home the gold in discus. It was in his third throw that the senior threw his career best and bested his competition by 19 feet. Tossing the disk a total of 54.81 meters, Nunally obliterated the competition and threw the third best mark in the history of the program. The event was his second of the day. Earlier that morning, Nunally placed fifth in shot put with a toss of 16.3 meters.

In the women’s side of the events, Okwelogu—the recent second team All-American in indoor shot put— claimed two golds of her own. In discus, the veteran won on her second throw with a 49.02 meters. The effort was seven feet further than her closest competitor. In shot put, Okwelogu claimed her second first place medal of the day with a toss of 15.82 meters. However, the senior wasn’t yet done. She went on to compete in the hammer throw and claim fifth with a 50.49-meter effort.

Also throwing for the Harvard women was Trenchard. Participating in the javelin throw, Trenchard’s last throw was her best with a 34.55-meter heave. The effort would be good enough to earn the sophomore a silver medal. She would also compete in the pole vault competition earning a fourth place finish with a 3.55-meter jump.

“I was disappointed with my performances” Trenchard said. “They didn't reflect the changes I've made recently in practice, but I'm really looking forward to putting all of the pieces together in the coming weeks.”

Freshman Simi Fajemisin would be the final women’s competitor to place in the top three with a 5.80-meter effort to land herself in the third position in long jump.

Also claiming silver was another sophomore, this time for the men. Ian West participated pole vault for the team and with his 4.75-meter jump, would do well enough to grab second for the team.

The hurdling events went particularly well for Harvard. In the the 400-meter variation, two freshman placed in the top two. For the women’s team, freshman Karina Joiner took gold with a 1.01.88 second effort, just edging out the freshman from Houston, Birexus Hawkins, who finished just .16 seconds behind her. For the men, freshman Jacob McLennan took home the silver medal with a 54.24 second finish.

In the women’s 100-meter hurdles, it was almost all Harvard. Claiming the spots two through four, the team finished with a spread of just .1 seconds. Leading off for the group was freshman Livia Gauntlett who took silver with a time of 14.02 seconds, just .07 behind the leader. Senior Jade Miller followed right behind with a time of 14.1 and freshman Karina Joiner behind her at 14.12 seconds.

“It was great to get the outdoor season underway in Texas following a productive week of practice,” Guantlett said. “The season opener is a great way to see where we are in terms of training and preparation for the rest of the season. After finishing the indoor season successfully at the Ivy League Championships, we have good foundations to work upon during the upcoming season. It was an honor to represent Harvard at the first outdoor event, and I hope to continue to build upon my first performance throughout the rest of the season.”

Taking fourth for the women in the 200-meter dash was senior Jade Miller. The veteran posted a time of 24.64 to claim the spot.

For the men’s team, the long distance events saw a lot more success than the shorter runs. Junior Gabe Montague ran his first ever 3000-meter outdoors race and took home the gold with a time of 8:54.31 seconds. In the 2000-meter steeplechase, freshman Will Battershill also got first place as he ran the event in a time of 6:03.72.

TEXAS SOUTHERN RELAYS

The following day, members of the team traveled to the Texas Southern Relays hosted at the university’s Alexander Durely Stadium. There, Okwelogu and Nunally again excelled.

Claiming her third gold medal of the weekend, Okwelogu won discus with a season best throw of 53.8 meters. She won the meet by exactly 12 feet. On the men’s side, Nunally picked up two more gold medals, giving him also three on the weekend. In discus, the co-captain won first with a throw of 48.28 meters, just under 12 feet ahead of his closest competition. Nunally also won shot put on his fourth toss of the meet, a throw of of 16.42 meters.

Also in men’s shot put, freshman Gunnar Allison claimed his medal with a throw of 14.19 meters, leading to a fourth place finish. Classmate McLennan, competing in the 400-meter hurdles, took the fifth place position with a time of 54.76 seconds.

“I am very excited to see what the outdoor season holds for us,” Trenchard said. “The women's program has become more and more of a contender on the national stage, and it has been incredible to be a part of a team that is constantly climbing in rankings and breaking records.”

—Staff writer Cade Palmer can be reached at cade.palmer@thecrimson.com.