Cooper Wins Award, Short Relays Dominate at Ivy League Outdoor Championships

Both the men’s and women’s squads placed in the top three for the Harvard track and field team at the Ivy League Outdoor Championships this past weekend, with the men finishing second and the women finishing third thanks to seven event titles across the two-day event — including a sweep of both 4x100-meter events.

Sophomore sprinter Ella Cooper also walked away with Most Outstanding Track Performer thanks to her win in the women’s 200-meter, her championship with the women’s 4x100 quartet, and her third-place finish in the women’s 100-meter.

Adding to its sweep of the 4x100-meter events and its win in the women’s 200-meter, the Crimson claimed four other victories with its men’s squad, including the 5,000 meters, the 10,000 meters, the high jump, and the triple jump.

In the short distance relays, Harvard’s men and women both set meet records en route to their victories, with the men running a school-record 39.22 and the women running a 44.30 that sits second fastest in program history. The men’s quartet included senior Jonas Clarke, juniors Timi Esan and Amari Turner, and sophomore LeRoy Horton, while the women’s included senior Mfoniso Andrew, junior Mickaila Haisley, and sophomores Saige Forbes and Cooper.

In the further relays, the Crimson women claimed second place in the 4x400-meter with a 3:33.13 and fourth place in the 4x800-meter 8:45.59, cementing themselves as one of the premier relay teams in the Ivy League. The men also finished well in their other relays, placing third in the 4x400-meter with a 3:07.65 and fifth in the 4x800-meter with a 7:24.98.

The men’s running core showcased its versatility and depth all weekend, especially in the short distance. In the men’s 100-meter final, Clarke, Esan, Turner, and Horton claimed third, fourth, fifth, and eighth places, respectively, making up half of the field in the most prominent sprint event. The team was similarly represented in the men’s 200-meter final, with Turner, Clarke, Esan, and sophomore Harlow Tong placing second, third, fourth, and sixth, respectively, once again composing half of the field.

Harvard continued to showcase its depth in the men’s 400-meter final, with Tong, sophomore Hudson Allain, and freshman Arpad Kovacs placing third, fifth and seventh, respectively. Tong’s 45.70 in the final was also a school record, beating his own record from two weeks ago.

Two of the Crimson’s wins came in the men’s distance category, with wins in the 5k and 10k coming courtesy of freshman Tam Gavenas and junior Charlie Ortmans, respectively. In the 5k, Gavenas won with a 14:26.41 while Ortmans claimed second with a 14:27.62. In the 10k, Ortmans won with a 29:33.26, and junior Sam Burgess claimed third with a 29:40.52.

Harvard’s men hurdled well in both the 110-meter and the 400-meter events, as junior Simon Weiser claimed fifth place in the 110-meter with a 14.10, and three Crimson athletes placed in the 400-meter final. In the 400-meter, senior Ondrej Vesely took fifth with a 51.75, freshman Oliver Parker took sixth with a 51.92, and senior Michal Husek took ninth with a 53.23.

On the women’s side, Cooper was one of many athletes to place well in sprints, as Haisley, Cooper, and Forbes finished second, third, and fourth in the 100-meter finals with times of 11.40, 11.42, and 11.43, respectively. For the 200-meter, in addition to Cooper’s win with a 23.11, Haisley claimed third place with a 23.72.

In the distance events, the Crimson took second place in both the 1500-meter and 10k, as freshman Dylan McElhinney finished the 1500-meter with a 4:23.55 and senior Molly Malague finished the 10k in 34:39.60. In the 3000-meter steeplechase, Malague claimed third with a 10:13.04.

Sophomore Abby Dennis won the women’s 100-meter hurdles qualifier with a school-record 13.36, and she took fifth place in the final with a 13.55. Senior Fabiola Belibi finished in sixth in the final with her time of 13.79.

In the men’s jumps, junior Tito Alofe — who in March won a national title in the indoor high jump — easily won the high jump with a 2.18-meter jump on his first attempt at that height, and freshman Joachim Johnson took third on a tiebreaker with a 2.03-meter jump.

Johnson continued his strong performance in the triple jump, winning the event with his first-attempt 15.63-meter jump.

In the women’s jumps, Harvard claimed two podium finishes in the pole vault, with junior Lily Hodge taking third with a personal-best 4.18-meter jump and sophomore Ella McRitchie taking fourth with a 4.08.

The Crimson women continued their strong season in throws, as sophomore Tyler Glover took second place in the shot put with a personal-best 16.57-meter throw. Harvard also claimed four of the top eight places in the discus, with junior Milina Wepiwe, freshman Nadjela Wepiwe, senior Michaela Denson, and Glover taking fourth, fifth, seventh, and eighth, respectively.

In the hammer throws, junior Alice Mihas took fifth in the women’s division while freshman Daniel Ye took seventh in the men’s division.

Freshman Yannick Kraus — who was on pace to finish second in the men’s decathlon before a disqualification in the 110-meter hurdles — ended up with 6334 points on the weekend to claim fourth place in the event.

The men finished with 130 points overall to claim second place behind Princeton, which scored 219 points en route to its third straight outdoor men’s title. The women finished with 118 points overall to claim third place, as Princeton won the event for the second straight year with 203 points and Penn finished second with 157 points.

Next up, the Crimson awaits Thursday’s announcement of qualifiers for the East Region first round of the NCAA Outdoor Championships, which takes place May 27-30. The NCAA Track and Field Outdoor National Championships will take place at the University of Oregon from June 10-13, with qualifiers from the two regional meets being announced on June 2.

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