Harvard Track and Field Starts Out Strong

In its first meet of the season, the Crimson flirted with history.

The Harvard track and field team kicked off its indoor season on Saturday by hosting the Harvard Open at Gordon Indoor Track. The squad competed against schools and unattached runners from as far away as Washington state. Though a limited number of the Crimson’s athletes took part, the few that did turned in strong performances—including some that were just short of all-time Harvard records.

“I think the team performed really well today,” Harvard coach Jason Saretsky said. “We had a limited number of student-athletes competing, but those that did compete performed really well. We had a number of personal bests that were set today. It was really exciting.”

On the women’s side, freshman Ashley Collinsworth began her career for the Crimson in style. The first year participated in the 60-meter and 200-meter dash events. In her preliminary heat in the 60-meter, Collinsworth sprinted to first place with a time of 7.76, outpacing the second-place finisher by 0.25 seconds. The rookie’s time was the sixth-fastest in program history.

Junior Olivia Weeks set a personal-best in the triple jump, leaping 12.23 meters to capture the event title. The junior’s mark was third-best in Crimson history.

“I’ve been a lot stronger this year,” Weeks said. “I’ve been making a lot of technical changes to my jump, so I was hoping that they’d pay off, and I’d be able to execute.”

“I didn’t have a set goal going into [the triple jump],” Weeks added. “But I was pleased.”

Like Collinsworth and Weeks, sophomore thrower Adabelle Ekechukwu also rewrote the record books on Saturday. The Oak Brook, Ill.-native placed second in the weight throw with a distance of 18.26 meters. Ekechukwu’s mark was not only her personal-best but also the second-best distance in program history.

“[Ekechukwu] had a great freshman campaign,” Saretsky said. “She looks poised to build on the success that she had last year.”

Ekechukwu indicated that changes in her practice regimen have allowed her to reach a new level of throwing.

“Last year, I was learning a lot of the basics,” said Ekechukwu, who is also a Crimson arts and photo editor. “This year, we’re working more on the technical elements of our lifting and throwing sessions. I think it’s the progression from basic to technical that has really made the difference.”

Not to be outdone by their female counterparts, the Harvard men brought their ‘A’ game to Gordon Indoor.

Freshman Ben Glauser hurled his way to first place in the shot put with a throw of 17.35 meters, which landed him fourth in Crimson history.

“I was confident going into it,” Glauser said. “I was happy to hit a throw like that in the second round [of the shot put event].”

Though Glauser indicated that he was satisfied with his performance, the rookie has his eyes on an even loftier goal.

“I knew I wasn’t going to hit the all-time record [on Saturday],” Glauser said. “Maybe [I will] in another month or so.”

In the men’s mile, it was all Harvard.

Senior middle distance runner Darcy Wilson led the way, earning first place in a field of 69 with a time of 4:14.69.

“[Wilson] took the race out and led wire to wire,” Saretsky said. “He didn’t have anyone pushing him, which really isn’t his style; he likes to feed off of the energy of others. But he went out and ran a great race today.”

Harvard placed five men in the mile’s top 12 spots. Sophomore middle distance runner Ryan Romain followed Wilson and finished with a time of 4:17.70. Behind Romain were junior Weishen Mead and sophomore Tyler Cusick, who finished in seventh and 10th place, respectively.

“The best is still to come from both our men’s and women’s classes,” Saretsky said. “Today, we saw glimpses of what’s to come. I’m really looking forward to seeing what they put together during the championship part of our season.”

—Staff writer Dominic Martinez can be reached at dmartinez@college.harvard.edu.