CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard track and field will head to three different meets this weekend, traveling to Princeton for the Sam Howell Invite, University of Florida for the Florida Relays and American International College for the Yellow Jacket Invitational.
Florida Relays
The Florida Relays start Thursday, April 3 at 5 p.m. with the shot put on the field and the 1600m event on the track. Competition wraps up Saturday evening. Hosted by Florida, the event first began in 1939.
The Crimson will send the 14 athletes to Florida.
Sam Howell Invite
A two-day event, the Sam Howell Invite will begin on Friday at 2 p.m. at Weaver Stadium with the men's hammer, men's discus and women's pole vault.
The event will host 50 teams, including all seven Ivy League foes.
Yellow Jacket Invitational
American International College, located in Springfield, Mass., will host the Yellow Jacket Invitational Saturday, April 5. Many local teams will compete in the event, including Central Connecticut, Fairfield and UMass Amherst.
Action starts at 10 a.m. on the track with the 10,000m run and on the field with the javelin, shot put, pole vault and hammer.
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.
Last Time Out
At the Snowflake Classic, a select group of athletes competed at Tufts University a week ago. The women's squad ran in three events, as a pair of runners earned first-place finishes. The men competed in the 800m and 1500m events.
Sophomore Kieran Gallagher broke into the top-20 all-time at Harvard with a time of 2:13.32 to place first in the 800m run. Junior Whitney Thornburg clocked a time of 37:10.91 to finish first in the 10,000m event.
Last Year
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.
Rewriting History
The Crimson rewrote the record book during the indoor season, as four school records were broken and hope to do the same as the outdoor segment begins. Senior Maksim Korolev boasts both the Harvard and Ivy League records in the 3000 (7:51.52) and 5000 meter (13:42.56) events.
The women's 4x400 relay squad (Jade Miller, Autumne Franklin, Jackie Modesett and Gabrielle Scott) has twice broken the Harvard record, most recently at the Collegiate Invitational at the Armory with a time of 3:39.49.
Junior Danielle Barbian has also broken her own school record multiple times this season in the 60-meter dash, most recently at the Heptagonal Championships, crossing in 7.44 to take the Ivy title home.
Freshman Nikki Okwelogu won the Ivy League shot put title with a Harvard track and field program-best mark of 15.31m (50-02.75), breaking a Crimson record set on Feb. 16, 1991 (15.03m) on her first attempt.
