Athlete of the Week Runners-Up: Week of 3/14

Although men’s baseball junior pitcher Nick Gruener posted a 2.81 ERA over 16 innings with 11 K’s in two starts, Harvard spring break athletics featured another prominent team star whose performance warranted recognition.

In eight starts for the No. 19 Harvard women’s water polo team, sophomore goalkeeper Cleo Harrington recorded a total of 91 saves and provided core defensive reliability to power the Crimson to a 7-2 record on its annual spring break California roadtrip. Harrington was rewarded with six wins, posted a career-high 20 saves in a victory over Azusa Pacific, and made several critical stops during Harvard’s six-game win streak. The California native also recorded totals of 13, 12, 11, 15 saves in four other games.

During the Crimson’s streak, Harrington’s goals-against average was 7.6. The Crimson offense averaged just under ten goals per game to back her up.

In losses to No. 20 SDSU and No. 11 UCSD, Harrington made 13 and nine saves, respectively, but posted double-digit save totals in a shootout against No. 25 CSUN and in a win over No. 13 UCSB. Harrington was also efficient, allowing only 4 and 5 goals in defensive grinds against No. 14 LMU and Santa Clara.

Harrington now has 182 saves, to go along with 15 assists and 6 goal-saving steals, on the season. With one non-conference and seven games of conference play still remaining, the sophomore has already surpassed the mark she set last season with 162 saves.

The team has placed a focus on defense throughout the season, and Harrington’s consistent performance have been a central component to the team’s 18-4 record. Senior captain Yoshi Andersen has attributed some of the success on improved communication in the pool, increased trust amongst the players, and more recently, taking good care of their physical state through icing, warm-ups, and warm-downs in the face of its busy nine-game stand.

In the one game that Harrington did not start, backup goalie freshman Sam Acker performed solidly, making nine stops while allowing through four goals against Redlands.

–Staff writer Bryan Hu can be reached at bhu01@college.harvard.edu.