Seidel Earns All-Ivy Honors

With Ivy bragging rights on the line, the Harvard men’s and women’s cross-country teams each placed sixth at the 63rd Annual Heptagonal Cross-Country Championships at Van Cortland Park in New York on Friday.

The men were led by captain Matt Seidel, who placed seventh with a 20-second PR on the course (25:02.7) to earn First Team All-Ivy honors, while the women took their cue from freshman Laura Maludzinski’s 17th-place finish (18:19.4).

The Dartmouth men won their third straight Heps title as junior Jarrod Shoemaker (24:36.3) nipped All-American teamate Tom McArdle (24:36.4) by one-tenth of a second. McArdle was hoping to become the first male runner to repeat as Heps champion since Dartmouth’s Jim Sapienza won three straight titles in the early 1980s.

While the Big Green continued its winning streak, the Crimson struggled to keep pace with a very strong field of runners.

“You only go into a race hoping to win,” Seidel said. “We wanted to keep a pack together through 5K, but it just didn’t work out.”

Seidel was backed up by freshman Tim Galebach and sophomore Reed Bienvenu, who have both improved drastically over the course of the season. The duo placed 23rd and 24th respectively as Bienvenu finished the five-mile course in 25:32.5 and Galebach crossed the line in 25:32.6.

The team was somewhat disappointed with its performance but hopes to rebound at the NCAA Regionals at Van Cortland on Nov. 16, when the Crimson will have a chance to compete with the same Ivy League foes.

In the 5K women’s race, Columbia dominated the field with five runners placing in the top 10. After taking third at each of the past three championships, the Lions finally captured a Heps title.

Yale senior Kate O’Neill won her second straight individual title, and her time of 17:18.3 was less than 10 seconds off the Heps Van Cortland record set by Harvard’s Kate Wiley ’84 in 1982. O’Neill’s twin sister Laura, also a Yale senior, placed second in 17:30.0.

Behind Maludzinski’s frontrunning, Harvard saw strong performances from junior Beverly Whelan and co-captain Claire Nicholas, who placed 22nd and 39th respectively.

The Harvard women will also return to Van Cortland Park on Nov. 16 for the NCAA Regionals.