Women's Track and Field Takes Home Third Straight Title

“Three-peat, three-peat!”

That was the chant that rang throughout the Gordon Indoor Track, as the Harvard women’s track and field co-captains Erika Veidis and Ashley Collinsworth brought back the team’s winning trophy for the third year in a row.

Competing at home in front of a packed building, the women were able to defend their title for the second year in a row and claim the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships for the fifth time in program history. The Crimson finished with a program record 125 points, 18 points ahead of second place Columbia.

The women were not the only ones to turn in a solid performance however, as the Harvard men’s team competed with limited personnel to claim fifth with 64.5 points, falling short of eventual champion Princeton.

“It was an awesome competition,” Harvard coach Jason Saretsky said. “I couldn’t be more proud of the way our men and women competed, especially the women…[who had] a target on their back the entire season.”

Fast times, crazy finishes, a rambunctious crowd, broken records, and triumphant farewells made for a competitive rendition of the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships.

The ball started rolling on Saturday, as senior thrower Taylor DuPont opened the Harvard point total with a second place, 16.34 meter mark in the weight throw, while junior Madison Hansen took home third in the women’s pentathlon.

Sophomore Brandon Price chipped in for the men with an 8:12.27 finish in the 3,000 meter finals, good enough for fifth overall.

While most of Saturday was dedicated to preliminaries, that didn’t deny the Crimson a chance to break records.

Senior Danielle Barbian ran a 7.43 in the 60 meter dash preliminaries that broke the meet record that she had held coming into the day. On the men’s side, co-captain Jarvis Harris also had a stellar performance in the 60 meter hurdles, claiming a personal and Harvard all-time best 7.93-second finish.

Both teams would sit in fifth at the end of day one. But things would change quickly going forward.

Sunday started off with an emphatic victory for the Crimson women as sophomore Nikki Okwelogu broke the Ivy League record for the third meet in a row, finishing with a 17.12 meter throw. The Fresno, Calif. native was named Field Athlete of the Meet.

“[The throw] felt so good,” Okwelogu said. “I was just going through it…right when I released it I was [thinking] ‘Yes, yes.’ I was saying it aloud, and I was watching it go because it was unbelievable to watch it soar.”

The field accolades would continue, as sophomore Efe Uwaifo would set a Harvard record in the triple jump, winning the event with a leap of 15.88 meters, while classmate Joshua Whitener would place fourth in the weight throw.

The action was not limited to the field, as the sprint events provided some of the most exciting races of the day.

Barbian continued her success by taking home the title in the 60 meter dash with an Ancient Eight record of 7.40 seconds, with her teammate Collinsworth right behind her at 7.44.

The senior would not stop there however, as Barbian would claim another victory in the 200-meter race, breaking the school record with a final time of 24.03. For her collective performance, Barbian was awarded with the Track Athlete of the Meet award.

“It was a big deal for me,” Barbian said. “[The 200 meter] was one of those races that has always been tough…. This year was a focus that I was going to dig deep and run it.”

The women would also dominate the 60 meter hurdles, as junior Autumne Franklin broke her personal and meet record with a time of 8.41, second-fastest in Crimson history. Sophomore Jackie Modesett and junior Madison Hansen were close behind Franklin, taking third and fifth, respectively.

On the men’s side, Harris would pull off a tight victory in the men’s 60 meter hurdles, finishing with a time of 7.94, one millisecond ahead of Princeton senior Rob Mohr.

“It feels really good, it’s been a long time coming,” Harris said. “After coming back from injury in November, I was fired up and ready to get back on pace.”

The captain would be joined by freshman Malcolm Johnson, who continued his successful rookie campaign by taking home the 60-meter dash title with a time of 6.88 seconds, just a tick ahead of fellow freshman Carrington Akosa of Princeton.

The relays and distance races would prove to be critical as well as the women would clinch their overall victory by taking home the 4 x 880 relay. Junior Paige Kouba teamed up with seniors Molly Renfer, Gabrielle Scott, and Veidis to pull out of reach of Columbia.

The men’s 4 x 880 team finished fifth, as the team of freshman Jonas Aranda and seniors Billy Looney, Nephat Maritim, and Connor Reck clocked in at 7:40.061.

The 800 meter race would prove to be fruitful for Harvard as well. Veidis took home second place with a 2:07.53 finish. On the men’s side, Aranda and Looney would make the podium with fifth and sixth place finishes, respectively.

In the mile races, Renfer and Kouba would take home third and fourth in the women’s mile, respectively, while Reck would place sixth in the men’s race.

Sophomore Sarah Gillespie would place third in the 1000 meter race with junior Kieran Gallagher behind her in fifth place in a race which saw the Crimson pick up eight more points.

The day ended with the 4 x 440 relays, where Hansen, Collinsworth, Franklin, and Modesett combined to take home third place accolades, finishing the race in 3:43.899. The men’s iteration saw Harris lead rookies Andrew Bolze, Matthew Hurst, and Alexander Moore to a fourth place finish. Hurst had also taken runner-up accolades in the 200 meter dash and fourth in the 400 meter run earlier in the day

With the last race wrapped up and the awards ceremony concluded, the Harvard athletes were left to celebrate as the individual winners received congratulations from friends, family, and teammates, while the women ran a victory lap, enjoying another title.

“It was a really special weekend,” Veidis said. “It was a team weekend and that’s what made the three-peat victory so incredible, because everyone worked together…it felt like we did it as a whole.”

—Staff writer Julio Fierro can be reached at julio.fierro@thecrimson.com.