Harvard 4x400 relay squad (left to right): Christi Scott, Erika Veidis, Gabrielle Scott, Autumne Franklin (Photo: Harvard Track and Field).
PRINCETON, N.J. – The women's 4x400 relay squad took down another school record, as the Harvard track and field team sent competitors to the Larry Ellis Invitational, the Mt. Sac Relays and the LSU Alumni Gold Meet this weekend.
Running against a power-packed field, the Crimson quartet of Autumne Franklin, Christi Scott, Erika Veidis and Gabrielle Scott blazed to a time of 3:38.79 to become the first quartet to eclipse the 3:40.00 mark in program history. Franklin led off with a speedy split of 54.3 and anchor Gabrielle Scott posted the best of the bunch at 53.4. The time was good for third in the race, behind only host LSU and a foursome of LSU Olympians. The Crimson topped teams from Minnesota, Texas A&M and Louisiana State in the standout performance.
Franklin continued a string of strong showings the 100 hurdles, placing fourth with a time of 14.14, while her 400 hurdle time of 58.79 marked a new personal best, improving on her second-best mark in team annals. Christi Scott was just of her personal best pace in the 200, crossing the line in 24.71, and Veidis was less than a second off her own top time in the 800 with a fifth-place finish of 2:06.67. Molly Renfer chipped in with a personal best in the 800, posting a time of 2:09.11, good for the victory in the 'B' flight of the race and seventh in team history.
The Mt. Sac Relays featured the best of the Crimson distance runners. In the men's 5,000, James Leakos led a pair of Crimson runners with a finish of 13:57.24, less than half a second off his lifetime best in the event. Teammate Maksim Korolev was close behind at 13:58.51, representing a personal best for the junior and the fourth-best time in team history. On the women's side, Morgan Kelly led the Harvard effort in the 5k, setting a new personal best of 16:27.98 to finish 12th in the race and posting the fourth-fastest time in school history. Senior Sammy Silva also put her name in the record books with a time of 16:34.09, good for seventh in Harvard annals.
At the Larry Ellis Invitational, it was the throwers' time to shine. Ben Glauser led the Harvard contingent in the hammer with a sixth-place toss of 58.09 (190'7"), and in the shot put with a winning mark of 17.15 (56'3.25"), leading a 1-2-3 Harvard finish. Shannon Watt's toss of 13.68 (44'10.75") in the shot was good for fifth overall, and Igor Liokumovich fronted the men's discus efforts with a mark of 48.59 (159'5"), good for fifth in the event.
The Crimson will take part in the Penn Relays this coming week, before setting its sights on the Brown Invitational April 28 in Providence, R.I.
