Alaina Alvarez was the third Crimson runner to finish Friday (Brian Panoff).

MADISON, Wis. – Harvard cross country wrapped up competition at the first of two meets this weekend, as the men captured 26th, while the women finished 34th at the Wisconsin adidas Invitational in Madison, Wisconsin Friday afternoon.

The women were up first in the 6K collegiate race with a trio of seniors pacing the Crimson. Molly Renfer (21:30), Whitney Thornburg (21:39) and Alaina Alvarez (21:41) were separated by just 11 seconds as they came across the finish line at the Thomas Zimmer Championship Course. Freshman Courtney Smith followed her elder teammates through the chute, recording a race time of 21:50. Sophomore Sarah Gillespie was the fifth Harvard runner to complete the course, posting a time of 22:13.

Michigan State captured the team title in the women's race, while Crystal Nelson from Iowa State took individual medalist honors.

In the men's 8K race, junior Thomas Purnell continued his strong fall with an 85th-place finish (out of 247) to lead the Crimson. Purnell's time of 24:33 was 10 seconds faster than senior Will Geiken who crossed in 109th place. A freshman and two seniors comprised the rest of Harvard's top-five. Ben Huffman was the third Crimson runner off the course in 24:55, while Nephat Maritim and Dan Milechman registered times of 24:56 and 25:23, respectively.

Syracuse secured the title championship in the men's event. Individually, Maksim Korlev '14, who graduated from Harvard last spring and is using his fifth year of NCAA eligibility to compete at Stanford as a graduate student, won the individual title.

Harvard's busy weekend continues with the Princeton Invitational Saturday morning at West Windsor Field in New Jersey. The women's 6K race begins at 11:15 a.m., while the men's 8K follows at 12 p.m.