Track & Field Shines in Beantown Challenge to Open Spring Indoor Season

The Harvard track and field team opened its indoor season with a strong showing in the Beantown Challenge at its home venue, with multiple athletes etching their names in the Crimson record books.

Sophomore sprinter Amari Turner set two program top-10 times across the 60-meter and 300-meter events, sophomore Ella McRitchie and junior Lilly Hodge both placed in the top three of the women’s pole vault, and the men’s 4x440-yard relay team ran away with a victory in a day that proved the diversity and overall strength of the Harvard program.

The event kicked off with senior Michaela Denson taking fourth place in the women’s weight throw with a distance of 17.23 meters, followed shortly behind by junior captain Alice Mihas, who placed sixth with a distance of 16.19 meters. In addition, sophomore Tyler Glover finished third in the shot put with a distance of 14.66 meters to close out a strong showing for the program’s female throwers.

Elsewhere in throws, freshman Daniel Ye continued to show swift progress in the weight throw event, posting a personal-best distance of 17.89 meters in the men’s category to take home a fourth-place finish that was second best of all rookie throwers in the division.

In the men’s shot put, junior Isaac Delaney earned second with a throw of 16.63 meters.

In the jumps category, the Crimson posted strong results across the men’s and women’s divisions.

All-American junior Marta Amani took second place in the women’s long jump with a distance of 6.01 meters, freshman Yannick Kraus took fourth with a personal-best distance of 6.73 meters in the men’s edition, and sophomore Saige Forbes finished fifth in the women’s triple jump with a distance of 11.55 meters in her first collegiate appearance in the event.

As mentioned, Harvard put out a great showing in the women’s pole vault. McRitchie — last year’s Ivy League pole vault champ — cleared 4.10 meters to take first place in the event, and Hodge took third by clearing 4.00 meters, with both jumpers poised to compete for an Ivy championship later this season.

On the men’s side, two jumpers finished in the top four of the high jump, with freshman Joachim ‘Yaya’ Johnson winning the event on a 2.11-meter clearance that was his personal best as well as fifth best in school history. Senior Daire Mahon finished in fourth with a personal-best 2.00-meter jump.

For the runners, it was again a successful day for the Crimson in both divisions.

In the hurdles, two athletes posted top-10 best times in school history, with junior Simon Weiser finishing in 8.04 seconds in the men’s 60-meter hurdle semifinals (fifth all-time) and sophomore Abby Dennis running a personal-best 8.57 in the women’s 60-meter finals (10th all-time). Weiser finished fourth in the finals, and Dennis finished third.

In the men’s 60-meter dash, four Harvard runners finished in the top seven, including Turner, who posted his personal-best and the sixth-best ever program time with a 6.75-second time in the semifinals before running a 6.83 to finish fourth in the finals. Junior Timi Esan, who holds the program record in the event with a 6.68 time in last year’s Crimson Elite meet, finished in second place in the finals after posting a 6.77.

Turner also showed out in the men’s 300-meter event, earning a time of 33.42 seconds that won him his first event of the year — and placed him second in school history in the event. Shortly behind him, sophomore Hudson Allain ran a 33.72 to finish second in the event and fourth in program history.

Coming out strong for his senior campaign, Justin Levy won the men’s 600-meter event with a time of 1:19.79 to add to the Crimson’s success on the day.

To close out the meet, the men’s 4x440-yard relay squad broke through with a 3:19.77 time that won the event by over a second. The quartet featured Levy, freshman Hudson McGough, sophomore Brayden Chavez, and senior Reuben Henry-Daire.

Next up, Harvard athletes will travel to New York, N.Y., as they compete in the Dr. Sander Scorcher later this week.

—Staff writer Connor Castañeda can be reached at [email protected].