Sixteen (16) Crimson women and 12 men will head to Jacksonville, Fla., this weekend for the NCAA East Regionals.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Harvard track and field will send a record-setting 28 athletes to the NCAA East Regionals this weekend, May 29-31, at Hodges Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla.
Top of the Pack
Among the top-20 seeded women are Jade Miller (eighth in the 400m hurdles), Autumne Franklin (14th in the 400m hurdles), Adabelle Ekechukwu (17th in the hammer), Emily Reese (18th in the 10K), Nikki Okwelogu (19th in the shot put) and the 4x4 relay (20th).
On the men's side, James Leakos (second in the 5K), Elliot Safo (ninth in the long jump), Jarvis Harris (10th in the 110m hurdles), Ben Glauser (17th in the hammer) and Tom Purnell (18th in the 5K) rank among the top-20 seeded.
Last Time Out
Senior Hannah Mayer broke the Harvard javelin record, as track and field wrapped up competition at the IC4A and ECAC Championships at Weaver Stadium May 10. Mayer tossed the javelin 48.15m (158-00) to crack into the top spot and win the event. The Allendale, N.J., native bested the second-place finisher by just three inches. Senior Adabelle Ekechukwu (hammer) and freshman Jade Miller (400m hurdles), also set personal bests, as Miller and classmate Nikki Okwelogu (shot put) won their events.
Last Year
Harvard saw four student-athletes book tickets to the NCAA Championships at the NCAA East Regionals a year ago. Maksim Korolev finished 13th in the 10K and Dustin Brode set a then-personal best in the shot to qualify on the men's side of the NCAA Championships. Autumne Franklin and Mary Hirst qualified for the women in the 400m hurdles and the high jump, respectively.
Rewriting History
Harvard has taken down 14 outdoor school records thus far in 2013-14.
Freshman Elliot Safo broke the Harvard long jump record that had held since 1921 at Heps, hopping 7.73m (25-04.50) to win the title and best Edward O. Gourdin '21. Gourdin jumped a distance of 7.69m at the Oxford-Cambridge meet July 23, 1921.
Also at the Ivy League Championship, the 4x100 meter relay squad broke the school and Ivy League record to rank first overall with a time of 45.40. Junior Ashley Collinsworth, freshman Jade Miller, sophomore Autumne Franklin and junior Danielle Barbian combined to earn the Heps title.
Freshman Nikki Okwelogu had a great day throwing in New Haven, winning the shot put championship with a toss of 16.03m (52-07.25) for a new school record. The freshman from Fresno, Calif., broke the previous program record – set in 1991 by Nicole Carkeek '91 – by over a meter.
Molly Renfer also took down a record at Heps, posting a time of 4:21.93 in the 1500m run.
At the Mt. Sac Relays, Morgan Kelly posted a time of 16:11.05 in the 5K to post the top time in Harvard history.
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.
In the 4x2, Collinsworth (24.8), Barbian (24.8), Madison Hansen (24.7) and Modesett crossed the finish line in 1:39.65 to rank first in Harvard history.
Also in Florida, 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 broke the program record and moved into sixth place in Ivy League history with a toss of 51.14 (167-09) in the discus at the UCSD Triton Invitational.
The women's 4x400 relay squad set a new school record at the Penn Relays with a time of 3:36.83. Franklin, freshman Jade Miller, freshman Jackie Modesett and Gabrielle Scott surpassed the Harvard record set a year ago
Also at the Penn Relays, Morgan Kelly broke the Harvard school record in the 3000m run with a time of 9:21.42 to rank sixth overall. The San Francisco, Calif., native bested the record from 2010 by nearly two seconds.
The DMR team of Sarah Gillespie, Olivia Abbate, Erika Veidis and Molly Renfer posted a time of 11:18.59 at Penn to hold Harvard's top spot.
The 4x800m relay squad of Paige Kouba, Molly Renfer, Kieran Gallagher and Erika Veidis posted a time of 8:43.30 to hold the school record.
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.
