Harvard Captures Town Title in Final Event

Coach Jason Saretsky pumped his fist into the air with satisfaction as he watched the last member of his 4x400 relay team sprint across the finish line. Immediately, chants of “Crimson” and “Number One!” were heard from both the track and the stands, as athletes and spectators alike made their approval loud and clear after realizing that the men’s track team had just pulled off an upset in nail-biting fashion.

Such was the atmosphere on Saturday afternoon at Gordon Indoor Track, as the Harvard men’s and women’s track and field teams participated in the second annual Battle of Beantown meet, finishing first and second, respectively, against competitors from Boston University, Boston College, and Northeastern.

“I’m really, really excited,” Saretsky said. “It was another good step for our program. On the women’s side, we really gave Boston College a good run for their money. As for the men, the fact that we started off last but finished first says it all.”

“It was an awesome meet overall,” junior Chas Gillespie said. “So many people scored points and stepped up.”

The men’s team, just a half a point behind Northeastern going into the final event, captured the Beanpot trophy with a dominant race in the 4x400 relay. All eyes were on the foursome of freshman John Dingus, junior Justin Grinstead, freshman Jonathan Meminger and senior Derek Jones, and they didn’t disappoint, setting a new meet record with a time of 3:19.18.

“I was feeling pretty good about our guys [going into the final race],” Saretsky said. “We had Jon Dingus, who was the record holder at his school in the 400, running off as a leadoff leg. Those other guys just did a great job.”

“We just needed to beat Northeastern in order to win but to do it in a dominant fashion and to win the meet was a great note to end on,” he added.

While the 4x400 relay was clearly the defining event of the day, it was the men’s 3000-meter race that really gave the Crimson the momentum it needed to win.

“We knew that was going to be a big event for us where we can score a lot of points,” Saretsky said.“You could tell that after that event, the momentum really started to shift, and we started to believe that we could win this thing.”

Gillespie and freshmen Stephen Couch and Dan Stiles finished 1-2-3, earning a crucial 24 points for Harvard.

“Coach said that we could be top three, and that the race would be decided in the last 800 meters,” Gillepsie said. “So we just had to be there and get ready to go.”

Other notable events in the men’s events were the mile, 1000-meter, and weight throw. Dan Chenoweth continued his strong sophomore campaign, winning the mile with a meet-record time of 4:13.23. Freshman Darcy Wilson also stepped up for the Crimson by winning his first event of his career in the 1000 meter, clocking in at 2:29.83.

It was also important for Harvard to place well in what Saretsky called the “bread and butter” event for the men. The Crimson finished consistently and placed a solid second, third, and fourth place in the event, with junior Jack Brady throwing a personal best of 16.71 meters.

The women’s team also had an impressive showing over the weekend, finishing only 11 points behind champion Boston College. Overall, the Crimson set seven ECAC qualifying marks and won a total of six events.

One of those events was the 800-meter run, in which sophomore Hilary May blazed to a first-place finish with an NCAA-qualifying time of 2:08.70.

“Hillary has had a great indoor season,” Saretsky said. “She really spent the summer committed to training. As a result, she has continued to gain strength and confidence.”

Senior captain Becky Christenson—who just last week earned an automatic bid to the NCAA championships in high jump with a personal best of 1.86 meters—continued to dominate, clearing 1.75 meters.

“Becky is, well, Becky,” Saretsky said. “She’s just a great competitor, always gives it her all, and never gets too high or low.”

Sophomore Claire Richardson, a standout in cross country as well as track, and freshman Kailyn Kuzmuk also fared well in the meet. The duo finished first and third, respectively, at 4:50.30 and 4:54.37, both ECAC qualifying times.

Harvard hopes to build off of its strong start this season, as both the men and the women get ready to host Princeton and Yale next weekend at home.

—Staff writer Kevin T. Chen can be reached at ktchen@fas.harvard.edu.