Cross Country Freshmen Lead the Pack in Cross Coast Competitions

Split between coasts for a big weekend of racing, the Harvard cross country women and men separated to race in the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational and the Princeton Invitational. In both races, freshman led the way with Abbe Goldstein pacing the Harvard women in Wisconsin and Hugo Milner carrying the men’s team in New Jersey.

WISCONSIN INVITATIONAL

Competing at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational against many of the top schools and runners in the country, Goldstein completing the course in 21:22.3 less than two minutes off the winning time. Coming in 107th out of the 225 athletes racing, Goldstein led Harvard to 33rd place overall in one of the most competitive Division I cross-country meets of the regular season.

Freshman Anna Juul finished next for Harvard in 188th with a time of 22.14.2. Crossing the finish right behind Juul was sophomore Gillian Meeks. Seniors Fiona Davis and captain Elianna Shwayder rounded out Harvard’s top five runners.

PRINCETON INVITATIONAL

Closer to home, several Harvard men competed against 21 other schools and over 200 runners at the the Princeton Invitational at the West Windsor Fields. Harvard finished in 13th place overall, improving from last year’s 18th place result.

Newcomer Milner was Harvard’s top finisher of the day, completing the 8K course in 24:20.9 and coming in 9th place, the best result of all freshman runners in the event.

“The last few weeks I have been working very hard in training and the result yesterday justified my efforts,” Milner said. “I am pleased with the result and proud of my teammates, although there is still a lot more work to be done in order to continue the success.”

Coming to Harvard from Derby, U.K., Milner has made an impressive transition to collegiate running and has already made an incredible impact on the men’s team.

“The mowed grass and flat course of Princeton is typically a different style of Cross-Country that I am used to, as being from England I am familiar with hilly and muddy races,” Milner said. “Being an international student it takes time to adjust to the US collegiate system and racing against a range of abilities. I turn up to races to have fun and compete, whilst I am sometimes unsure on the quality of the field, I always give my best.”

Junior Collin Price who was Harvard’s top runner last year was the second scorer. Finishing with a PR of 24:54, Price came in 45th place. Rounding out the scoring for Harvard, two more freshman placed in the top-five for Harvard. Freshmen Matthew Pereira and Michael Alber were Harvard’s third and fourth finishers, coming in 64th and 95th overall respectively. Senior Louis Colson also scored for Harvard, crossing the finish in with a time of 25:49.5 and securing 107h place.

“The race was definitely an improvement from our last race at Beantown, at least for most of the guys,” Price said. “I was able to get a pr yesterday, which was an improvement, but I wasn’t super pleased with my race. We’ve definitely got a lot of room to improve for HEPs in two weeks, but we are on the right track.”

At the Princeton Invitational, Harvard women’s cross country freshman, Tessa Medrano, ran as an individual and finished in 78th overall in the women's 6k with a time of 23:19.4

Both Harvard teams will race next in Van Cortlandt Park in New York City at the Ivy League Cross Country Heptagonal Championships on October 27th.

—Staff writer Rena Simkowitz can be reached at rena.simkowitz@thecrimson.com