Molly Renfer and Will Geiken lead the Crimson into the Battle of Beantown (Gil Talbot).

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Harvard men's and women's cross country teams will make the short journey to Franklin Park this Friday to compete in the Coast-to-Coast Battle of Beantown, hosted by Boston College. The women's 5K race is slated for a 3 p.m. start with the men's 8K race to follow at 3:30 p.m.

Friday's meet will feature a plethora of national and regional talent in both races. On the women's side, six teams are ranked in the top 25: No. 1 Michigan, No. 5 Georgetown, No. 15 Syracuse, No. 16 Boston College, No. 18 Providence and No. 25 Dartmouth will compete as part of the 21-team field. In the men's race, No. 3 Oregon, No. 8 Syracuse and No. 16 Providence will challenge 16 other teams.

The Battle of Beantown is the second competition of the season for Harvard, as the men and women each took third in the season-opening H-Y-P meet two weeks ago. The women were led by rookie Courtney Smith, who took eighth with a speedy time of 17:59.5. Classmate Annika Gompers also had a good showing, finishing her first collegiate meet in 18:08.3, taking 13th. Senior Molly Renfer finished just ahead of Gompers in 12th.

Harvard's men's team had a pair of top-10 finishers at the H-Y-P meet, as senior Will Geiken and junior Chris Allen placed eighth and ninth, respectively. Senior Daniel Milechman (16th) and freshman Louis Colson (20th) also broke the top 20 at the meet.

At the 2013 Battle of Beantown, eventual national champion Providence won the race, with Oregon and Cornell rounding out the top-three teams on the women's side. Oregon was the top finisher in the men's race last year, with Syracuse and Providence finished second and third, respectively.

Following Friday's meet, the Crimson will next be in action on October 4 when it travels to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania for the Paul Short Invitational.