Only Two Shine For Track in Philadelphia

Against national competition at the Penn Relays, all it took for the Harvard’s men’s and women’s track team to prove themselves was one man and one woman.

Hampered by injuries to many of its stars, the only athletes to qualify for the Penn Relays were sophomore Samyr Laine and senior Johanna Doyle.

Neither one disappointed.

In the triple jump, Laine nearly won the event, finishing in second with a jump of 15.11 meters.  His effort fell .38 meters shy of winner Marc Kellman from George Mason, but blew away the next best attempt from an Ivy Leaguer at the meet by over half a meter.

Notably, Laine’s jump from last week which had almost broken a Crimson record would have won him this event. Now, he looks poised to sail to victory at the upcoming Heptagonals and possibly make a dent in national championships as well. His training partner in the event, sophomore Lawrence Adjah, failed to qualify in the college men’s eastern triple jump.

On the women’s side, Doyle took fourth place in the hammer throw with a toss of 56.58 meters.  Although her toss was not the best of the semester, it solidified her status amongst the best in the country in the event.

The winning throw was 60.55 meters by Maria Garcia of Buknell.

Senior Alexandra Petrone also competed for the Crimson, but failed to register a qualifying throw.

The entire team will be back in action in two weeks when Harvard travels to Providence, R.I. for the outdoor Heptagonal Championships.

—Staff writer Gabriel M. Velez can be reached at gmvelez@fas.harvard.edu.