Lindaas Leads Team To Solid Showing

Up against fields of nearly 250 runners from 36 schools, the Harvard men’s and women’s cross country teams were back in action on Saturday for the NCAA Northeast Regional Cross Country Meet. The Crimson squads turned in solid performances against their regional foes at the University of Buffalo’s Audubon Golf Course. The men finished in 15th place, while the women raced to a 14th-place finish.

“I was pleased with how our teams competed today,” Harvard coach Jason Saretsky said. “They went out on a windy, blustery day and gave us a really good effort.”

On the women’s side, sophomore Morgan Kelly paced the Crimson. The San Francisco, Calif. native crossed the finish line in 21:58.3, which was good for 49th place overall. Kelly has been a consistent runner for Harvard all year, but her outing on Saturday may have elevated her to the next level.

“I was extremely happy with Morgan’s performance,” Saretsky said. “She really went out there and stepped it up for us. It was a breakout performance for her.”

Behind Kelly for the Crimson was freshman Viviana Hanley, who bolstered her impressive freshman campaign by coming in 66th place. Hanley covered the six-kilometer course in 22:18.1. Senior Jeanne Mack and captain Kirsten Jorgenson were hot on the rookie’s heels, crossing the finish line with respective times of 22:20.5 and 22:24.3.

True to what has been their 2011 form, the Harvard women ran as a pack in Saturday’s race. The top-five finishers for the Crimson all crossed the finish line within a one-minute span.

“We’ve been working on running as a pack and working together all year,” Saretsky said. “[The women’s team] gave a great effort today.”

For the Harvard men, junior Jakob Lindaas once again rose to the occasion in his team’s most important meet of the season to date. Lindaas was the Crimson’s top runner two weekends ago at the Heptagonal Championship Meet. The junior followed up his Heps performance by finishing the men’s 10-kilometer race in 32:35.2, which earned him 45th place.

In a season in which many of Harvard’s top runners have battled injuries, Lindaas indicated that his main focus was to stay healthy while continuing to improve as the season progressed. The Crimson coaching staff has recognized Lindaas’ development in 2011.

“Jakob has grown by leaps and bounds this season,” Saretsky said. “He’s really beginning to establish himself as a strong, competitive runner for us.”

Despite the relative flatness of the Audubon Golf Course, Lindaas and his teammates had to overcome some unfavorable racing conditions on Saturday. Constant winds and gusts of 20 miles per hour hampered runners as they made their way to the finish line.

“The wind would be at your back on some portions of the course,” Lindaas said. “You’d be flying along. But at other portions, you would be hitting it head-on.

Sophomores James Leakos, Aaron Watanabe, and Kellen Blumberg were behind Lindaas for Harvard, finishing in 65th, 89th, and 103rd places, respectively. The Crimson’s sophomore class has shown its depth throughout the course of the year, in spite of injuries that have marred the squad’s roster.

“James, Kellen, and Aaron are all very talented,” Saretsky said. “They’ve had an up-and-down season, but it was great for them to get out there and represent Harvard.”

Among the schools the Crimson faced at the meet were Ancient Eight rivals Columbia, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell and Yale. The Columbia men had the most impressive outing, earning third place overall with 96 points. Harvard fell to each of its Ivy League rivals.

“We wanted to improve upon our standing from [the Heptagonal Cross Country meet,]” Lindaas said. “It was our goal to go out there and beat Yale. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to do that today.”

—Staff writer Dominic Martinez can be reached at dmartinez@college.harvard.edu.