Harvard Track and Field Leaves NCAAs with Three National Champions

The Harvard track and field team sent ten athletes to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship at the University of Austin in Texas from June 7th through June 10th. Over the course of the four-day competition, the team had three individual champions and broke five school records along the way.

Up first, sophomore Kenneth Ikeji competed in the men’s hammer throw on day one of the competition, setting a high standard for the Crimson to follow. Ikeji won the event with a throw of 77.92 m, setting a new Harvard and Ivy League record. The United Kingdom native's throw was also far enough to set a facility record. His teammate, senior Alexander Kolesnikoff, competed in the men’s shot put and threw 19.88 m to earn ninth place.

On the women’s side for the throwers, senior Stephanie Ratcliffe earned a gold medal, becoming a national champion in the women’s hammer throw. Ratcliffe concluded her undefeated season, throwing 73.63 m to set a new Harvard, Ivy League, and Australian national record. Her throw was also the first NCAA title in the event for the Crimson.

Along with Ikeji’s national championship in the men’s hammer throw, the two swept the event. Her teammate senior Estel Valeanu took a spot on the podium for her event, earning sixth place in the discus throw, with a mark of 58.25 m to break her previous school record. Senior Sarah Omoregie earned 16th place in the women’s shot put with a throw of 16.90 m.

Representing the sprinters, Sophomore Izzy Goudros finished eighteenth in the nation with a score of 5460 points in the women’s heptathlon.

Sophomore Graham Blanks and Juniors Acer Iverson and Maia Ramsden represented Harvard in the teams in the distance events.

“For the most part, just race it as it is,” said Blanks about his coach’s advice going into the meet. “Hard to tell how a race is going to play out beforehand, whether it’s fast or slow, so just to stay in the moment, react to what happens, and maybe make a move towards the end of all is feeling good, and that was the case for the strategy of both of the races.”

Blanks and Iverson started off in the men’s 10K run. Blanks finished in sixth place with a time of 28:15.90 seconds after a 400 m sprint at the end of his race. Iverson finished in 23rd place, with a time of 30:35.64 seconds.

Senior Stephanie Ratcliffe of Melbourne, Australia competes at the 2023 NCAA tournament for outdoor track and field, where she was named champion in the hammer throw event. By Courtesy of Lexie Mehallis/Harvard Athletics

The next day, Blanks returned to the track, racing under the lights in the men’s 5000 m championship. After sitting in the middle of the pack for the first two miles, Blanks made a push early in the final mile to move up to the front pack led by Northern Arizona University’s Nico Young. Sitting in fourth entering the bell lap, Blanks dropped a 55-second final 400 m to move up to second place and claim a podium spot in 14:06.53 behind Stanford’s Ky Robinson.

“[I] definitely went in wanting to win,” said Blanks about his expectations going into the 5K. “I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel having it after the 10K, but I thought I could win the race. I wouldn’t say I was super surprised, but I was ecstatic to be able to finish that high up.”

“My best finish yet at an NCAA meet,” he continued. “So if anything it was just a really big confidence booster for the years to come.”

Following Blank's performance the next day, Ramsden closed out Harvard’s hardware collection by claiming the Crimson’s third national title and breaking the school record in the women’s 1500m final. During the preliminaries, Ramsden set both a personal best and school record in the event to qualify her for the final. Ramsden not only showed up but showed, running a strategic race to secure her first-place finish in 4:08.60 seconds, which kicked during the last 400 m of her race. She returned to the track just over an hour later that same day to compete in the women’s 5K, running a time of 16:12.95 seconds to finish eighteenth place overall.

“It was unreal,” Blanks reflected. “That might not be the right word to use though, because I wasn’t entirely surprised. I was pretty confident that Kenny and Steph going in were going to win their events. Just to see it happen is pretty unbelievable and extremely exciting, especially at these types of meets.”

“It’s really, really hard to do, and a lot of great competitors have really bad days, just because the time is in the year,” he continued. “I also thought Maia could win as well — but that one was more of a surprise to me than the other two, just because of how difficult it is to win a 1500 [meter race], especially against some of her competitors who are world-class.”

At the conclusion of the NCAA meet, the men’s team finished in eleventh place with 64 points — the team’s best finish since 1964. The women’s team finished in ninth place, tying its best team finish from 1989.

The team also earned several accolades from the U.S. Track and Field Cross Country Coaches Association. The Men’s and Women’s Coach of the Year award was given to Harvard’s head coach Jason Saretsky, while the Women’s Assistant Coach of the Year title was awarded to Coach Alex Gibby.

Men’s Field Athlete of the Year was awarded to Ikeji, and the Women’s Field Athlete of the Year was awarded to Ratcliffe. The Men’s Track Athlete of the Year was awarded to Blanks, and the Women’s Track Athlete of the Year was given to Ramsden.

“It’s good for the team as a whole,” said Blanks about the results of the NCAA meet. “As our throws program likes to say: set the tone. It’s a good way to set the tone for our team.”

“You know, we won Heps, and now maybe we can set our sights on bigger goals, which is competing at the national level,” he continued. “It’s also exciting for cross country, like I said, just trying to set the tone for the squad and let [it] understand [that] we’re not just here to collect Ivy League titles, but we’re here to run on the national stage.”

The NCAA meet wasn’t the end of the team’s season, as they will travel to the United Kingdom to compete against the University of Birmingham as well as against Oxford and Cambridge at another HYOC meet.

— Staff writer Jack Canavan can be reached at jack.canavan@thecrimson.com.

— Staff writer Nadia A. Fairfax can be reached at nadia.fairfax@thecrimson.com.