Meghan Looney anchored the winning 4x800 relay team at the Penn Relays (Harvard Athletic Communications).
PHILADELPHIA – While the Harvard track and field team had a number of great performances at the 2012 Penn Relays, none was greater than the showing by the women's 4x800 relay squad as it took the title in dramatic fashion to highlight a busy stay at the event. Harvard had competitors in action Thursday, Friday and Saturday in Philadelphia, and also had student-athletes at the Brown Springtime Open Sunday.
The 4x800 squad of Alaina Murphy, Erika Veidis, Natalia Paine and Meghan Looney finished first in 8:53.95. Anchor Looney proved to be the deciding factor for Harvard as the captain ran down Penn's anchor from a 20-meter gap in their heat, allowing Harvard to edge Purdue in the overall standings by just .02 seconds. The time also stands as the sixth-fastest time in school history for the Crimson. Dustin Brode put his mark on the shot put a day earlier, nearing his personal best in the event with a winning throw of 57' 9.75" (17.62m). Teammate Ben Glauser took second in the men's hammer on Saturday, launching a throw of 191' 2" (58.29m).
Other strong showings by the Crimson included a fifth-place finish from Adabelle Ekechukwu in the women's hammer, with a mark of 175' 5" (53.48m). Shannon Watt took ninth in the discus, posting a mark of 151' 3" (46.11m), just over a meter off her personal best distance. Jakob Lindaas was fifth in the 3,000 steeplechase running a time of 9:16.79, and the women's 4x400 relay team of Erika Veidis, Gabrielle Scott, Molly Renfer, Shannon Conway kicked off the competition with a time of 3:45.44, one of the top times in team annals.
At the Brown Springtime Open, the Harvard men dominated the 3,000 as Harvard yielded the top six finishers in the race, fronted by junior Stewart Richardson in a time of 8:43.60. Senior Robbie Paris' time of 56.55 was good for a win in the 400 hurdles, and Glauser's mark of 57' 4" (17.48m) in the shot put was good for second among collegiate competitors. Junior Edward Brucker took third among college competitors in the discus with a toss of 163' 8" (49.89m) to cap the day for the men's side.
Emily Reese's time of 4:32.05 in the 1,500 ranks among the top times in team history, and earned her a second-place finish in the race. Alaina Alvarez was the top collegiate runner in the 3,000, posting a time of 10:25.76, and Ann Giebelhaus earned a victory in the women's high jump, clearing 5' 5" (1.65m). Allie Pace and Sydney Leroy both cleared 11' 6" (3.50m) to finish in a tie for third in the pole vault. Shannon Watt and Taylor DuPont finished 1-2 in the shot put with marks of 45' 3" (13.80m) and 44' 4" (13.52m), respectively, and Watt's mark of 150' 1" (45.74m) in the discus was good for a second-place finish.
Harvard now sets its sights on the 2012 Outdoor Heptagonal Championships, which will take place May 5-6 in Philadelphia. Last year, the men's squad finished fourth in the competition while the women placed seventh at the event.
