The Bronx, N.Y. - The Harvard men's and women's cross-country teams raced at the Ivy League Heptagonal Championship meet on Friday, Oct. 28 in the Bronx, N.Y. The women's team took home the championship title for the second year in a row while the men's team took second. The Crimson's Acer Iverson and Maia Ramsden won both the men's and women's individual titles.

The women's race was led by Ramsden from early on, with her lead growing to eight seconds by the time she crossed the finish line in 20:42.4, winning the women's 6k. Maya Rayle finished in sixth place with a time of 21:11.7. Rounding out the top five scoring runners for the Crimson were Penelope Salmon in 12th, Ellaney Matarese in 17th and Isabelle Goldstein in 18th. The team scored 54 points, beating second place Princeton by nine.

For the first time since 1969, Harvard runners finished 1-2 in the Ivy League men's championship meet. Iverson and Graham Blanks ran smart races in the men's 8k, hanging with the lead group but not pushing the pace for a majority of the race. They were able to break away in the last two miles and separate from the rest of the pack. Iverson finished first in 23:59.3, followed by Blanks in second in 24:04.1. Two more runners finished in the top 12 with captain David Melville in 11th and freshman Vivien Henz in 12th. Ben Rosa rounded out the scoring five with 15th place. The Crimson team scored 41 points, just three points behind Princeton's 38 that brought home the title.

Four Crimson runners earned First-Team All-Ivy Honors for finishing in the top seven places: Ramsden, Rayle, Iverson and Blanks. Three runners earned Second-Team All-Ivy Honors for finishing in the top 14: Salmon, Melville and Henz.

Up Next

The Harvard cross country team will return to Van Cortlandt Park to compete in the NCAA Northeast Regional Championships to determine who will advance to the NCAA Championship meet. The race will take place on Friday, Nov. 11.