Milner, Gillespie Lead Cross Country at NCAA Regionals

Last Friday, the Harvard cross country teams traveled to the University of Buffalo to compete against 39 women’s teams and 38 men’s teams at the 2017 NCAA Northeast Regional Championships.

Continuing his record-setting breakout season, freshman Hugo Milner placed 10th, the second-best finish by a Harvard freshman since Timothy Galebach in 2003. With temperatures dipping well below freezing, the team battled both the frigid cold and many of the nation’s top runners.

On the women’s side, Harvard was unable to repeat its second-place overall finish from 2016. Instead, the team landed in 12th place overall against a large and competitive field. Junior Kathryn Gillespie was Harvard’s top finisher, coming in 43rd place with a time of 22:43.5 on the 6k course. All finishing within a minute of Gillespie, Elianna Shwayder in 58th place, freshman Anna Juul in 69th, senior Fiona Davis, and sophomore Gillian Meeks rounded out the top five for the Harvard women.

In the men’s 10K, Hugo Milner led Harvard to 16th place overall. Individually coming in 10th place with a time of 32:26.1 on the Audubon Golf Course, Milner was the third-fastest freshman at the meet. Adding to his season accomplishments, Milner is the 11th runner in the history of Harvard men’s cross country to earn NCAA All-Regional honors.

“The race at Buffalo was extremely tough as temperatures got as low as 16 degrees Fahrenheit and included top competition,” Milner said. “Individually, to miss out on a place at the NCAA nationals by two places was frustrating, but I am pleased with the way the team and I gradually improved throughout the season to give our best efforts.”

Also scoring for the men’s team, senior Tyler Spear came in 43rd with a time of 33:10.0, senior Louis Colson finished in 67th, sophomore Will Battershill was 68th, and freshman Matthew Pereira crossed the finish line in 91st.

“The team ran really well, beating Yale and Dartmouth and narrowly missing Brown and Cornell,” Spear said. “This was the best race for the men’s team all season and a really solid sign of progress, especially since we closed the gap on Ivy League teams that beat us at Heps.”