Crimson Ladies Land Second, Men Gain Single Point

Hot off its recent success at last weekend’s Heptagonal Championships, the Harvard Track and Field squad sent eight men and 14 women down to Princeton for the Men’s IC4A and Women’s ECAC Championships.

Despite abysmal conditions, the women’s side, with 19.5 points, finished just one and a half points behind Princeton for second-best among Ivies. And although the men’s side accrued only one point, that point—courtesy of senior Alex Lewis in the decathlon—was the highlight of the meet.

“Coming off the decathlon at last week’s [Heptagonal Championships] and then this one, he’s done two decathlons in seven days,” fellow co-captain Brian Holmquest said. “So he was a bit beat up going in, but he stuck in it and got a point.”

When all was said and done, the men’s co-captain finished eighth in the decathlon with a score of 6477.

Despite getting off to a slow start in the first event—finishing 19th in the 100-meter dash—the San Diego native quickly made up for it with a downright win in the second event. Bounding 6.89 meters in the long jump, Lewis out-leapt the second-place finisher from UConn by more than a meter.

Lewis next logged a fifth spot in the third event, putting the shot 11.91 meters, then cleared 1.93 meters to secure fourth in the decathlon high jump.

The Currier House resident went on to throw a sixth-best, 35.20-meter discus en route to his eighth-place finish.

“He competed awesome,” Harvard Coach Jason Saretsky said. “To do two decathlons back-to-back is no small feat. Particularly with this one where the weather was not cooperating.”

Filling out the men’s side, junior Derek Jones clocked in at 47.99 in the 400-meter dash for 18th, rookie Dan Chenoweth’s 3:51.22 finish in the 1500-meter run earned him 19th, and co-captain Brian Holmquest finished 24th in the 5000-meter run with a time of 14:38.68. Sophomore Justin Grinstead placed 31st in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 54.81, while in the hammer throw, junior Neville Irani’s 54.45-meter toss and freshman Eric Clayman’s 52.27-meter throw earned them 19th and 21st, respectively.

On the women’s side, junior high-jumper Becky Christensen led the way with her first-place, 1.78-meter leap.

Sophomore Eda Karesin launched the javelin 46.46 meters to place third, just 20 centimeters behind the second-place finisher, a senior from Towson. Karesin’s throw cleared the NCAA Regional qualification mark, though she already qualified for Regionals during March’s Victor Lopez Bayou Classic. Rookie Jessica Fronk followed with a 41.75-meter toss, good for eighth. Fronk also qualified for Regionals at the Classic.

“Sometimes it’s hard for Eda to be pleased with her performance cause she holds herself to a high standard,” co-captain Sally Stanton said. “But she did really well.”

Senior Clara Blattler cleared 3.75 meters to finish seventh in the pole vault, while co-captain Sally Stanton tied for 18th with a clearance of 3.50 meters. Junior Brittan Smith rounded out Harvard’s field events with a 5.88-meter long jump.

In the track events, freshman Jamie Olson narrowly missed the NCAA regional cut-off in the 1500-meter run with her eighth-place time of 4:30.08, while classmate Claire Richardson took 11th in the 3000-meter run with her 9:57.41 finish. Fellow rookie Eliza Ives notched a 19th-place finish in the 5000-meter run, finishing in 18:15.52.

With the season drawing to a close, the Crimson must like where it stands for next season. The women’s 20th place finish in this weekend’s meet placed them three and a half points ahead of Brown, to whom they lost by one in last weekend’s Heptagonals and by 68 points in last year’s outdoor Heptagonals.

“For our women to finish in the top 20 in the northeast, it’s really exciting,” Saretsky said. “But as our program continues to evolve, we look to be one of the best programs in the East.”

And with all the young talent making their marks over the weekend, that evolution could be just around the corner.

“With that many quality guys coming back next year, it’s nice to know that the team will really be able to compete in the next couple of years” Holmquest said of the men’s squad.

“For us [seniors], it’s nice to know that however well we did this year as a team, it had a lot to do with how well how underclassmen did,” Stanton added. “It’s good to know that the team will still do well after we’re gone.”

—Staff writer Dixon McPhillips can be reached at fmcphill@fas.harvard.edu.