CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard track and field heads to Philadelphia this weekend for the 120th Penn Relays at Franklin Field. The world's oldest and largest relay carnival is set for April 24-26 and will be nationally televised on NBC Sports Saturday from 12:30-3 p.m.
Penn Relays
Harvard will start the meet Thursday with distance events. To follow the Crimson athletes, a full schedule can be found here. FloTrack will provide live coverage of the Penn Relays.
Last year, several Crimson athletes set personal bests, as Mary Hirst hit a clearance of 1.76m (5-9.25) in the high jump and Igor Liokumovich set a new personal best in the discus with a throw of 52.87m (173-5), good for fifth all-time in team history.
Last Time Out
At the LSU Alumni Gold, sophomore Madison Hansen registered a personal best in the heptathlon, collecting 5152 points to win the event and rank second all-time at Harvard and eighth all-time in the Ivy League. Junior Ashley Collinsworth blazed to a time of 24.34 to rank second all-time at Harvard in the 200m dash. The Fort Thomas, Ky., native ranked fourth overall in the event.
At the Larry Ellis Invite, sophomore Paige Kouba posted the fastest time in Harvard history in steeplechase, breaking her own record with a time of 10:34.22.
Rewriting History
Harvard has taken down five outdoor school records thus far in 2013-14.
Four records were overtaken at the Florida Relays. Juniors Danielle Barbian and Ashley Collinsworth both broke the previous school record in the 100 meter dash, clocking times of 11.66 and 11.79, respectively. The previous mark was set by Favia Merritt '09 (11.82) at Heps in 2008.
Collinsworth, Sylvia Deppen, Autumne Franklin and Barbian posted a time of 45.84 in the 4x100 to rank first all-time in Harvard history and fourth in the Ivy League.
In the 4x2, Collinsworth (24.8), Barbian (24.8), Madison Hansen (24.7) and Modesett crossed the finish line in 1:39.65 to break the Harvard school record.
The sprint medley relay of Christi Scott, Gabrielle Scott, Hansen (55.8), and Molly Renfer (2.09.9) posted the fastest time in Harvard history, crossing in 3:56.36 to finish sixth in the event.
Freshman Nikki Okwelogu pushed her way to second all-time at Harvard with a toss of 49.33m (161-10) in the discus, finishing fifth overall in a strong field. The throw also vaulted the rookie into the top-10 in Ivy history.
In the 1500 meter run, junior Molly Renfer and freshman Sarah Gillespie finished sixth and seventh, respectively. Renfer crossed in 4:24.33 to rank second all-time in the Crimson record book, while Gillespie finished just behind (4:24.73) to move into third all-time.
At the Larry Ellis Invite, sophomore Paige Kouba posted the fastest time in Harvard history in steeplechase, breaking her own record with a time of 10:34.22.
Indoor Action
The Crimson women are coming off a successful indoor season, as the squad won its second-straight Ivy League Heptagonal Championships behind four Ivy League champions – Most Outstanding Field Performer Adabelle Ekechukwu, junior Danielle Barbian, sophomore Autumne Franklin and freshman Nikki Okwelogu. Junior Erika Veidis qualified for the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships, earning second team All-American honors.
The Harvard men accumulated the most points in program history at Heps, sending two athletes - seniors James Leakos and Maksim Korolev – to NCAA's. Korolev earned second team All-American accolades in the 3K and 5K, while Leakos was also recognized with second team honors.
A Year Ago
Harvard combined for six league titles at the 2013 Outdoor Heptagonal Championships, as the women locked up a third-place finish – its best since 2003 – and the men ranked fifth overall.
At the ECAC Championship, the Crimson women's squad posted its best result in team history, compiling 36 points to tie for sixth at the meet. The men earned 19 points on the weekend, good for a 16th-place result.
