Rookies Pace Men as Cross Country Begins Fall Season

The Harvard cross country teams started off their seasons on the right foot this Saturday as they traveled to Van Courtlandt Park in New York to compete in the Iona Meet of Champions. The men’s team finished fifth, while the women placed 13th in the first race of the season.

“We went into the race with two goals, to get a race under our belts and to see the course that we were going to run at in the Ivy League Championships,” Crimson coach Jason Saretsky said. “We accomplished both of those goals and...I was happy with the results.”

While many of the more seasoned veterans rested for the meet against Yale this Friday, Iona was an opportunity for some of the other runners to gain more experience.

“We wanted to give some of the other kids an opportunity to get a race under their belt,” Saretsky said. “That way, they could be that much sharper and that much better prepared for this Friday’s race.”

But the athletes didn’t need to wait until Friday to start delivering results.

On the men’s side, the freshmen led the way for Harvard, posting four of the top five times in the 8K to help the Crimson to a top-five finish in the 19-team field.

“[For the men’s team,] the story is in the strength of our freshmen,” Saretsky said. “Having four freshmen in our top five really stuck out in my mind, and it was great to see.”

Rookie Maksim Korolev started off Harvard and crossed the line in 25:31, placing 11th overall in the first race of his collegiate career. Fellow freshman Kurt Ruegg finished 24th at 25:59 and was closely followed by classmates Aaron Watanabe and Kellen Blumberg. Sophomore Stewart Richardson rounded out the top five runners with a 54th-place finish and a time of 26:19, leaving only 20 seconds between the Crimson’s second and fifth runners.

“All of the guys did a really great job yesterday, especially the freshmen,” junior Alison Lee said. “They were in a great pack, really communicated, and pushed each other along. I think that shows how the rest of the season is going to be for the men’s and women’s side...a really unified team.”

On the women’s side, the seniors had a stronger presence in the top five runners while the freshmen continued to perform, earning the Crimson its 13th place finish in the 6K, 18-team field.

Senior track captain Thea Lee successfully crossed over to more rugged terrain as the top finisher for Harvard, crossing the line in 23:36 and placing 61st overall. Senior Cara Sprague and freshman Catherine Hasbrouck earned 73rd and 76th with times of 24:08 and 24:09, respectively, followed by senior Jamie Olson and Alison Lee in 83rd and 91st place.

“I think it was a great race for all of us, a really good effort,” Alison Lee said. “[Hasbrouck] ran well in her first race for us as a freshman, and I think overall the team did well for our first race of the season.”

With the depth of the Crimson roster and an impressive showing from the freshman class, the rest of the season seems promising for the cross-country squads.

“We did great last season, and I’m excited to see how we build off of that,” Alison Lee said. “We have a lot of upperclassmen this year and a really experienced team, so I am hoping that will continue to push the freshmen to do well. They’ve already been doing a great job, and I’m excited for us to all continue to improve together.”

“We are really looking forward to continuing to develop and continuing to get better,” Saretsky said. “It’s going to take a lot of hard work, and we have a lot more in store in front of us, but I think we are off to a great start.”

—Staff writer Stephanie E. Herwatt can be reached at sherwatt@college.harvard.edu.