CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Harvard men's and women's cross-country teams swept the Battle in Beantown, winning both team titles and having the individual champion in both races as well. The women's team took first with 61 points, led by
Maia Ramsden's first place finish and the men's team took first with 47 points, led by
Graham Blanks' first place finish.
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On a rainy day in Boston, the Crimson proved to be the dominant team in the Northeast at Franklin Park. The meet took place in the same location that the Ivy League Cross Country Championship Meet will be held in later this season, giving Harvard more experience and familiarity with the course.Â
The women's 5k started the day, where Harvard finished with three athletes in the top ten. Following Ramsden's win in 17:00.1,
Ella Gilson took eighth in 17:15.8 and
Penelope Salmon took ninth in 17:16.3.
Ellaney Matarese and
Kristin Otervik finished out the five scoring positions, crossing the line together in 17:42.5 and 17:42.9. Harvard's 61 points was 42 points ahead of Penn's second place finish with 103 points and beat out 15 other teams.
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The men's 8k was next, where the Crimson team completed the sweep of the meet by scoring 47 points to take first of 14 teams. They created a 51-point gap from the second-place team, Northeastern, who scored 98 points. Blanks won the race in 23:26.0, even passing the lead cart at one point. He was followed by
Ben Rosa in seventh in 24:10.3,
Shane Brosnan in 10th (24:19.2),
Sam Burgess in 12th (24:21.5) and
Joe Ewing in 17th (24:28.4). First-year
Charlie Ortmans finished in 18th just one second behind Ewing.Â
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Up Next
Harvard will have a weekend off before the team splits up, with some student-athletes traveling to Wisconsin for the Nuttycombe Invite and others heading to New York, N.Y. for the IC4A/ECAC Championship meet. Both meets will take place on Friday, Oct. 13.
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