Carswell, Lonergan Compete With Nation's Best at NCAA's

This past Wednesday, two of Harvard's best male runners left for Indianapolis to compete in the NCAA Championships.

Juniors Ian Carswell and Killian Lonergan made the trip to the Midwest, not only because they qualified for nationals, but also because they have the ability to perform very well at the national level.

Carswell was ranked third in the nation in the 3,000-meter race going into the meet, behind Air Force's Erik Mack and Cal Berkeley's Richie Boulet. Carswell, a two-time All-American who finished seventh last season at Nationals, showed confidence before leaving Cambridge.

Unfortunately for Carswell, he got knocked out of the heats yesterday afternoon. The junior got pushed out into lane six with 600 meters to go, and he never could get back into rhythm. Carswell finished the 3,000-meter race in 8:23, well off his usual pace.

Lonergan, recovering from two years of sporadic injuries, was ranked fifth overall going into last night's 5,000-meter race's final.

However, despite his spectacular comeback this season, the Irish native still felt some trepidation going into the weekend.

"My confidence isn't as high as it should be," he said Tuesday.

Indeed, Lonergan has been suffering from minor setbacks, including sickness and a pulled hamstring. These ailments have delayed his preparation by three weeks.

In fact, Lonergan's hamstring injury was a bigger obstacle than he expected. He finished 11th out of 12 overall, clocking 14:41.

At the Terrier Classic earlier this season, Lonergan established a personal best of 13:59. However, that was before the hamstring injury that cost him one month of competition.

Given that Lonergan had little time to recover, his performance yesterday cannot be considered too disappointing.

So although the results at Indianapolis provided an anticlimactic end to the indoor season, both runners can now turn their thoughts to the upcoming outdoor season. The first meets will be held during the team's spring break trip to Houston.