Track and Field Notches Top Finishes at Harvard Invitational

Though the Harvard track and field team garnered many first-place finishes at the Gordon Indoor Track at the Harvard Invitational on Saturday, one of the best performances for the Crimson was the second-place result from junior Erika Veidis in the women’s 800-meter run.

The junior mid-distance runner came in second to Morgan Uceny, an unattached competitor who won the U.S. Olympic trials in the 1500-meter run in 2012. Veidis ran on the shoulder of Uceny for most of the race, going toe-to-toe with one of the top U.S. runners in the event.

To go along with the few unaffiliated athletes in attendance, Boston College, Holy Cross, Quinnipiac, Sacred Heart, and the University of Massachusetts all competed at the invitational event.

Another of the standout performances for the Crimson came from junior sprinter Danielle Barbian, who beat her own school record in the women’s 60-meter dash with a time of 7.52 seconds.  Not to be outdone, fellow junior sprinter Ashley Collingsworth took third and set a personal record in the event with a time of 7.58, moving her into second all-time in the Harvard record books behind her teammate Barbian.

The Crimson took the top five spots in the women’s 60-meter hurdles as sophomore Autumne Franklin secured the victory and qualified for the ECAC’s with an 8.56 mark.

The dominating performance from the Harvard women’s sprinters continued in the 200 as sophomore Christi Scott won the event with a 24.95, good for a personal best. Scott continued her winning ways in the women’s 4x400 as she teamed up with senior Olivia Abbate, sophomore Madison Hansen, and freshman Haley Baker to achieve victory with a time of 3:53.36.

“Everyone [in the sprint group] has been working really hard this year,” Franklin said. “We all just have a great work ethic, and we have a mutual understanding of what it takes to be great. That is what we are working towards and encouraging each other to work towards.”

For the Crimson men, senior sprinter Andrew Ezekoye earned a first-place finish in the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.85, a mark qualifying him for the IC4A meet. Junior hurdler Jarvis Harris also placed first for Harvard, running an 8.12 in the 60-meter hurdles.

“It is always great to be able to win, especially on the home track,” coach Jason Saretsky said. “Both [Andrew and Jarvis] have high aspirations and have their goals set at running even faster and performing at an even higher level.”

In the men’s one mile, the Crimson earned another second-place finish behind a non-collegiate athlete as freshman Brandon Price ran 4:18.04.

The Harvard women also fared well in the field events behind a strong performance from multiple throwers. Senior Adabelle Ekechukwu, a Crimson Arts editor, and junior Taylor Dupont finished one-two in the women’s weight throw. Similarly, freshman Nikki Okwelogu and senior Alysha Johnson placed first and second, respectively, in the shot put.

The women’s high jump also saw two Crimson athletes in the top three, as freshman Raegan Nizdil placed first at a height of 1.7 meters while junior Ann Giebelhaus placed third with 1.65 meters.

The Harvard men’s throwers followed in the footsteps of the women’s team, sweeping the weight throw and going two-three-four in the shot put. Senior Dustin Brode beat out his freshman teammate Josh Whitener by .02 meters with his winning toss of 18.82 meters in the weight throw while junior Ben Glauser completed the Crimson trio. Brode and Glauser had more work to do, however, as they earned second and third, respectively, in the shot put with throws of 17.66 and 17.55 meters.

The men’s jumping events saw one win and two second-place finishes for the Crimson. Freshman Andrew Roney took home the win in the pole vault, clearing 4.57 meters. Fellow freshman Efe Uwaifo’s triple jump of 14.81 was good enough for second, while sophomore Spencer Lemons cleared a height of 1.90 meters in the high jump to also occupy the silver position.

The last home meet until an April 12th clash with Yale, the Harvard Invitational featured strong performances across the board from the Crimson. While a home meet is a rarity in its own right for the Harvard faithful, Saturday’s event also featured a chance to see the All-American Veidis race against one of the top women’s runners in the country in Uceny. The junior’s 2:06.63 in the 800 was less than two seconds off of Uceny’s winning time and six seconds faster than the third-place finisher.

“Running against an athlete of Morgan’s caliber is a great opportunity for Erika,” Saretsky said. “I think it was a real important learning experience for her to be shoulder-to-shoulder with [Morgan]. She has her sights set on doing some special things here at Harvard, and the eyes are opening up to that potential beyond her four years here at Harvard.”

—Staff writer M. Ty Aderhold can be reached at michael.aderhold@thecrimson.com.