Athlete of the Week Runners-Up: Week of 1/27

“There can only be one!” So sayeth Connor MacLeod in Highlader and so sayeth the Crimson sports board. So without further ado, here are the two runner-ups in the latest edition of Athlete of the Week.

Maksim Korolev, Men’s Track and Field

From cross-country in the fall and straight into the winter track season, this wiry senior hasn’t slowed down at all. The Harrisonville, MO product didn’t just break a Harvard record on Friday at the Terrier Invite in Boston – he broke the Ivy League record for the 5K run.

Korolev even had a chance to catch his breath before second place finisher Michael LeDuc crossed the finish after him…almost 35 seconds later. Korolev’s 13:42.56 time was among the fastest of all NCAA Division I athletes and just under 17 seconds quicker than the previous Harvard record held by Killian D. Lonergan ’97 in 1996 at the same invite.

The time was also just under 16 seconds faster than Korolev’s previous 5K personal record. In the 10K event, Korolev finished with a time of 29:59.5. But maybe after a race like last Friday’s, his legs will understand the purpose of a down escalator.

Hillary Crowe, Women’s Ice Hockey

The Crimson scored five goals in two games this weekend, and three of them came from Crowe’s stick. On Saturday at the Bright-Landry Hockey Center, the forward found the back of the net 46 seconds into the third period to put Harvard on top against Union, 2-0.

The next day, the junior from Eden Praire, MN was at it again. She helped avenge the Crimson’s loss to RPI earlier this year with two goals against the Engineers in the 3-1 triumph. Demonstrating good puck control, Crowe skated through the RPI defense on a breakaway, fooling Engineer goalie Kelly O’Brien and flipping the puck into the back of the net.

Later in the game, Crowe waited patiently as sophomore teammate Miye O’Dench fed her the puck on the net’s left side. Crowe kept her shot low to the ice, slipping it by O’Brien for her tenth goal of the season.

Crowe is now second on the team in both points and goals and also owns a plus 16 rating when she’s been on the ice this year.