Smith Takes Fourth as Cross Country Gets Pair of Top-15 Finishes

Split between coasts, the Harvard cross country women and men both had impressive meets against deep fields of runners. The women traveled across the nation to compete in the Washington Invitational while the men stayed near the east coast to compete at the Paul Short Invitational

WASHINGTON INVITATIONAL

Coming of her individual victory at the season opener, junior Courtney Smith led the Crimson to a third place finish at the Washington Invitational, hosted by the University of Washington at Jefferson Park Golf Course.

Finishing a close fourth—behind Oregon’s Katie Rainsberger and Washington’s Charlotte Prouse, who won the race and Amy-Eloise Neale—Smith recorded her fastest 6K time in a competition with Harvard with a time of 19:47.6.

Freshman Lisa Tertsch was the other Crimson athlete who finished in the top-10, beating many runners from Washington, Oregon and everyone from Colorado St., three of the top teams in the country.

“The stand out performance definitely came from Lisa in her first ever collegiate cross country meet. She really stepped up and executed an incredible race,” Smith said. “I think it's a good life lesson of what can happen when you don't put limits on yourself because she had no idea what to expect going into the race so she didn't put a cap on what she could do”

Fellow rookie Judy Pendergrast crossed the line less than 20 seconds after Tertsch, finishing with a time of 20:39.20, good for 20th, while sophomore Erin Dietz was just over a second behind to finish in 21st.

Junior Elianna Shwayder capped off the scoring contingent for Harvard finishing in 27th place with a 20:55.60. The Crimson finished off with 78 points, just 21 points behind the fourth ranked Ducks. The trip was a special experience for the Harvard women, as the meet is one of the few chances the team will get to compete on the West Coast.

“One of the luckiest parts of being on the team is traveling. It's a really special thing we get to do, to explore the world with our best friends doing what we love,” Smith explained. “I think it's important sometimes to step back from the stress and busyness within the Harvard bubble and just remember to enjoy life and appreciate how lucky we are.”

PAUL SHORT INVITATIONAL

Across the country in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, the Crimson men raced in one of the largest annual cross country meets in the nation and finished in 13th place overall.

In the men's gold 8K race, sophomore Kieran Tuntivate finished first for the Crimson with a time of 24:14, coming in 29th place in a very deep field.

“The biggest performance was sophomore Kieran Tuntivate who ran 24:14 which was over a minute faster than his previous best,” senior captain Brandon Pierce said.

Price was close behind Tuntivate, crossing the line with a 24:20 time to finish in 39th place. The underclassmen continued to make their mark as freshmen teammates Murimi Nyamu and Will Battershill finished as the third and fourth Harvard runners in 79th and 94th place.

Junior Gabe Montague rounded out the scoring contingent with a 25:44 finish, as the team finished with 443 points, good for 13th out of 38 teams.

At this point in the season, the Harvard cross country teams are focused on training hard and learning from each experience.

“We went into Paul Short knowing that it was still early in the season and that we were training hard at this point. Because of that we had no expectations and just executed,” Price said.

Next weekend, both the Harvard men and women return to race at home in the New England Cross Country Championships at Franklin Park in Boston.

–Staff writer Rena Simkowitz can be reached at rsimkowitz@college.harvard.edu.