ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Chenoweth Outruns Yale By 24 Seconds

“It kind of all blurs together,” said junior cross-country runner Dan Chenoweth with a laugh. “I remember being in pain, that’s all.”

If you are surprised to learn that Chenoweth actually feels pain, join the club. But rest assured—he certainly doesn’t let it slow him down. A star Harvard runner, he blew away the competition last Friday in a dual meet against Yale, placing first by a decisive margin of 24 seconds. Chenoweth finished the 8-kilometer circuit in 24:20, his personal best for the Franklin Park course.

His outstanding performance could not have come at a better time, for two reasons. First, the Crimson was facing the Bulldogs in the biggest race of the season so far. Second, Harvard was racing without captain Chas Gillespie, who has not competed this year due to injury.

“We’ve really missed him this year,” Chenoweth said. “Chas and I will train together and race together. It’s a mental help.”

Chenoweth noted the lack of in-race companionship and competition that Chas usually provides.

“That makes everything easier, pushing each other,” he added. “I’m looking forward to having him back.”

Until Gillespie returns, Chenoweth will have to continue dominating alone. He pulled in front of the pack early on Friday, and only drew further ahead as the race continued.

“The plan was to go a hard first mile,” the junior said. “I got that accomplished. Then I thought, ‘OK, I need to settle into a rhythm, feel relaxed—it’s a long race.”

Gillespie praised Chenoweth, adding that his performance was nothing new.

“I think the whole team has come to expect great things from Dan,” Gillespie said. “He basically dominated right from the start. It was wonderful.”

Chenoweth, aside from his personal ability, has benefited the team by taking a leadership role.

“He’s such a great example of working hard in order to get better every time,” Gillespie said. “Very tenacious like that. He’s a positive influence on everybody.”

Crimson head coach Jason Saretsky echoed Gillespie’s praise.

“[Dan] sets a great example with his work ethic and competitiveness,” Saretsky said. “He’s been making sure we’re pushing the guys, focusing on what’s at hand. He’s growing into being a leader on the team.”

The coach added that Chenoweth has become “a great complement to Chas.”

Gillespie and Chenoweth have become very close, close enough that the captain is comfortable pointing out some areas where his teammate’s game could improve.

“He is thinking about growing a mustache,” Gillespie said. “If he had had the mustache on [Friday], he could have gone 24:15.”

Chenoweth and Gillespie finished 1-2 in the Harvard-Yale meet last year, making this the second straight year that Chenoweth has won. The experience only makes him more dangerous.

“He has a confidence in his fitness,” Saretsky said. “He focuses on what he can control and lets the rest take care of itself.”

Chenoweth, along with the Harvard team, proved definitively that they are in good shape for the season.

“It was a good first race,” Chenoweth said. “One of the goals is to get out there and see what kind of shape we’re in.”

“I was able to prove to myself that I’m getting into race shape,” he added. “It was nice to be able to get out there and run a good time and feel good doing it.”

But proving themselves aside, all agreed that it was extra sweet to beat the Bulldogs. With this victory, the Crimson has triumphed three years in a row—every year, Chenoweth noted, that he has been at Harvard.

“We have a couple meets to look forward to every year,” Chenoweth said. “We want to continue the streak as long as we can.”

“We looked forward to [this meet] all summer and all fall,” Gillespie added. “It’s got such an enormous history.” This year’s meet was the 97th between the two schools.

Chenoweth did all he could to have it swing the Crimson’s way. But while the race for first place was a blowout, the meet as a whole was tight until the end, when Harvard came through, 26-29. Chenoweth pointed to a team-wide strategy to start off fast.

“It usually goes out pretty slow,” Chenoweth said. “The Yale guys weren’t ready for us to [start off] like that.”

And for Chenoweth, the strategy was perfect.

“I just took off,” Chenoweth said simply. “The Yale guys kind of let me go.”