Gabby Thomas Earns Top Collegiate Finish

UPDATED: April 5, 2017 at 2:38pm

For the second straight weekend, members of the Harvard Track and Field team traveled down to Florida for an outdoor meet. This time, they left with a new record in the 100-meter dash, as sophomore Gabby Thomas clocked the fastest collegiate time at the meet.

The team split to three different places. While the majority took to Florida, several others traveled to New Haven and Stanford.

MARK YOUNG INVITATIONAL

The third meet of the weekend was exclusively for the field competitors. Taking to New Haven, Conn., for the Mark Young Invitational hosted by Yale, the two teams each racked up several top 10 finishes.

For the men, it was exclusively underclassmen that competed. In the throwing events, freshman Gunnar Allison represented the group in shot put, discus, and the hammer throw. The freshman took top ten finishes in the two former. In shot put, Allison claimed the 10th place position with his first throw, a 13.51-meter heave. It was his fifth throw in discus that would be his best, earning him the sixth place spot with a toss of 45.57 meters.

Competing also in the hammer throw was senior teammate Josh Whitener. For him, the first throw was his best, the hammer flying 50.43 meters and Whitener claiming the sixth place medal.

Freshmen led the team in the rest of the field events. In his outdoor debut, freshman Donagh Mahon claimed the bronze medal in high jump. It was his fourth of five that landed him the number three spot, clearing a height of 1.94 meters.

Competing in pole vault was freshman Ian West who took fifth place on his second attempt. West cleared 4.55 meters to earn his spot on the podium.

The women’s half of the meet was highlighted by junior Marlena Sabatino competing in pole vault. The veteran earned a second place finish with a 3.80-meter jump, getting close to her own school record, a record set at the very same campus last year. Sophomore Nicole Trenchard, also competed in pole vault claiming the fourth position with a 3.65 jump. Both efforts, Sabatino and Trenchard’s, land them among the top 10 finishes in the event in program history.

“It is inspiring to compete alongside so many high caliber athletes,” Trenchard said. “I can't imagine a time to be prouder to wear the Harvard H on our chests.”

Long jumper, junior Floriane Kameni, also got on the board leaping 5.33-meters. With the jump, Kameni placed fourth in as many tries.

STANFORD INVITATIONAL

In a long distance centered meet, four racers traveled to Palo Alto, Calif., to compete against several top Division I programs including Ole Miss, Washington, and Baylor.

Leading off for the group were two runners in the 1500-meter run. Junior Gabe Montague represented the men’s team and finished in eighth with a time of 3:56.36. On the women’s half of the event, freshman Brooke Starn took 11th.

In her debut outdoor race, freshman Judy Pendergast competed in the 5000-meter race. A qualifier to the NCAA National indoor Championships and the winner of the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships in the event, Pendergast placed 16th at Stanford in 16:22.86 seconds.

Finishing up for the team was junior Elianna Shwayder who took 21st in the 10000-meter run.

FLORIDA RELAYS

Competing Friday and Saturday in Gainesville, Fla. were the majority of Crimson athletes this weekend. Among them was sophomore Gabby Thomas, a first-team indoor track All-American earlier this year. At the meet, she broke yet another the school record.

Racing in both the 200 and 100-meter dash, the sophomore broke the school record in the 100. With a sprint of 11.24 seconds, Thomas placed third overall in the event, but was the number one finisher among collegiate athletes. Finishing above her were representatives of Nike and Modern Sprints. In the 200-meter dash, Thomas finished in the gold medal position, crossing the finish line in just 22.60 seconds.

Also doing well for the women’s team was the 4x400-meter relay. Represented by freshman Zoe Hughes, Thomas, senior Jade Miller, and freshman Karina Joiner, the team finished in the fourth place position in the preliminary race, with a time of 3:39.35, another top-10 finish in program history. In the finals heat, the group improved to clock the fifth fastest time in school history, 3:37.73, and grab the third place medal.

Competing in the 100-meter hurdles were three representatives of the Harvard women’s team, all three clocked times in the top-10 program history. Leading for the group was Joiner who not only clocked a top program time, but her own personal best at 13.99 seconds to finish 44th. Following just behind her were teammates Hughes and Miller who finished in 48th and 52nd, respectively.

Miller also competed in the 400-meter hurdles. This time she took sixth and crossed the finish line in a clean 57.61 seconds.

For the guys, the standout among the runner was sophomore Myles Marshall. Running in the 800-meter run, Marshall clocked a 1:49.39 second time to earn himself a 17th place finish.

In the field, freshman Simi Fajemisin highlighted the women’s team. Competing in both the long jump and the triple jump, Fajemisin finished in fourth and sixth, respectively. In her triple jump attempt, the rookie leapt 12.78 meters, the third best jump in school history.

For the men, co-captain Julian Nunally led the group competing in both discus and shot put. In the latter, the senior claimed fourth place with his best throw of the year thus far, a 17.19-meter heave. In discus, his seventh place finishing, 53.64-meter throw was only three feet and 10 inches off of his personal record.

“Coach Saretsky has made it clear that if we focus on the process and training well, then the good marks and times will come,” Nunally said. “So that's the plan for all of us. Focus on the process and not the end goal.”

—Staff writer Cade Palmer can be reached at cade.palmer@thecrimson.com

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

CORRECTION:

An earlier of version of this article incorrectly stated that Pendergast beat her Columbia opponent, Henna Rustami, in the 5000-meter run. In fact, Rustami clocked a 15:59.79 in the race, beating Pendergast.