Jason Saretsky begins his 19th season at the helm of men's and women's track and field and cross country programs at Harvard in 2024-25. Saretsky’s position, The William W. “Bill” McCurdy Director of Track and Field/Cross Country, became the 17th endowed coaching position at Harvard in the spring of 2013. Saretsky is just the 10th person to serve as head coach of the track and field program since Harvard began formal competition in 1874.
The 2023-24 season was a banner year for Harvard track & field and cross country, as Crimson student-athletes reached new levels of success and produced stellar performances on national and international stages. Under Saretsky's direction, Harvard student-athletes won four NCAA national titles in the 2023-24 season, the most in a season in program history. Graham Blanks won the NCAA Men's Cross Country national title, becoming the first student-athlete in Ivy League history to do so. At the 2024 NCAA Indoor Championships, Kenneth Ikeji took home the men's weight throw national title. Maia Ramsden also became the school's first finalist for The Bowerman, the most prestigous individual award in collegiate track & field, after winning NCAA national titles in the indoor mile and the outdoor 1500m. In all, 15 Crimson garnered All-America status during the 2023-24 season under Saretsky's leadership. Along with success on the collegiate stage, Five Crimson qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics, as Gabby Thomas became the first American female sprinter since 2012 to win gold in the 200m, 4x100m and the 4x400m in a single year.
Saretsky, the men's and women's Ivy League Outdoor Track and Field and USTFCCCA Northeast Regional Outdoor Track and Field Coach of the Year, most recently coached the Crimson men's and women's teams to their first ever combined titles at the Ivy League Outdoor Track and Field Championship meet to end a year where the women's team completed the triple crown: winning cross country, indoor and outdoor track and field titles. The teams combined produced a program record three NCAA Champions and 16 All-Americans throughout the 2022-23 season.
The 2020 USTFCCCA Northeast Region Women's Coach of the Year and the 2017 Ivy League Women's Outdoor Track and Field Coach of the Year, Saretsky has also mentored 64 NCAA qualifiers, 181 NCAA regional qualifiers, coached to nine individual ECAC/IC4A titles with 164 Heptagonal champions, and countless school records have fallen with more than 275 marks added to the program’s top-10 list. For the first time in program history and the second time in Ivy League history, the Harvard women's team completed the triple crown in 2016-17 and 2023-24 - winning cross country, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field Ivy League Heptagonal championships.
Both the men’s and women’s cross country and track and field teams have been honored by the U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association for their success in the classroom each year since Saretsky's arrival. The Crimson earned All-Academic honors for having a team GPA of 3.0 or better.
In the 2019-20 season, Saretsky led the Crimson to another successful season. Both the men and the women placed second at Ivy League Heps; the women fell short by seven points, finishing behind defending champion Penn 133 to 126, while the men finished second to the defending champions Princeton. The men finished with 116 points, their highest point total in program history, and best indoor finish since they last won in 1985. Saretsky guided the teams to six individual Heps titles and two relay titles. Three athletes qualified for the NCAA Championships- Kieran Tuntivate (mile, 3000), Abbe Goldstein (mile) and Anna Juul (Mile).
In the 2018-19 season, Saretsky led the Crimson on another successful campaign. The Crimson women captured a runner-up finish in both the Indoor and Outdoor Ivy League Heps Championships. In the outdoor edition, Harvard sprinters placed first through fifth (Ngozi Musa, Olivia Okoli, Tina Martin, Katina Martin and Kelissa Cain) in the women's 100m dash, an unprecedented feat in the Ivy League's history. Guided by Saretsky, freshman Sam Welsh was named the Northeast Region Men's Athlete of the Year.
During the 2017-18 season, Gabby Thomas won Harvard's first national championship under Saretsky in the 200-meter dash as she set a collegiate record time of 22.38. Thomas was also nominated for the Bowerman, collegiate track and field's highest honor. Saretsky was named the Northeast Region Coach of the Year for the fourth-straight season and saw 27 earn All-Ivy honors throughout the cross country/track and field season.
The 2015-16 team was one of the most successful in program history, earning eight All-America honors with a pair of Ivy League Heptagonal championships on the women's side. The women's team rose to No. 10 in the national polls, breaking both a program and Ivy League record for the highest-ranked team. Saretsky was named the Northeast Region Coach of the Year for the third-straight season during the outdoor campaign, as a slew of program records changed hands. The Crimson had five student-athletes qualify for the USATF Olympic Trials, setting a new program standard, while Nikki Okwelogu '17 was named to the Olympic track and field team for Nigeria. Okwelogu, Gabby Thomas, Autumne Franklin, Jade Miller, Paige Kouba and Courtney Smith earned All-America nods under Saretsky's watch.
The 2014-15 season proved to be another banner season for the women's indoor and outdoor squads, as the Crimson swept both Ivy League Heptagonal Championships. Saretsky was named Northeast Region Coach of the Year for both seasons. He also garnered Co-Ivy League Coach of the Year for the indoor season and won the honor outright during the outdoor campaign. On a national level, Nikki Okwelogu finished as an All-America in the indoor shot put, while Jade Miller and Autumne Franklin earned All-America in the 400-meter hurdles at the outdoor NCAA Championships. In total, the Crimson qualified 16 student-athletes for the NCAA East Prelim Meet.
Saretsky led the Crimson to an unprecedented year in 2013-14, as he was named the USTFCCCA Northeast Region Coach of the Year for the outdoor season. The men and women combined to send a record number of athletes to both the NCAA Championships (seven) and the NCAA East Regional (28). The women won both the indoor and outdoor Ivy League Heptagonal Championships for the second time in program history. The Harvard women also set nine program records, while the men totaled the most points at Heps since 1983.
The successes were plentiful for Saretsky’s teams in 2012-13, beginning with the cross country season. The women’s squad earned its first trip to the NCAA Championships since 1983, thanks to a fourth-place finish at NCAA regionals. The men also saw a pair of runners qualify for the NCAA individual championships.
The indoor season saw the women capture their first Ivy League championship since 2000, earning Saretsky USTFCCCA Northeast Region Women’s Coach of the Year accolades. The women’s team also yielded a trio of NCAA qualifiers, all of whom went on to earn All-America honors. Saretsky also witnessed the men’s indoor team take third at the league championship meet, its best finish since the 1985 Championships. Saretsky mentored a record number of NCAA regional qualifiers in the outdoor season as 18 student-athletes represented Harvard at the NCAA East Preliminary meet. Four more student-athletes earned All-America honors, qualifying for the NCAA Championships in four different events.
In all, Saretsky’s teams yielded seven All-America performances, 17 Heptagonal champions and 11 school records during the 2012-13 season.
Saretsky witnessed a banner year in 2011-12 as the Crimson added 103 new marks to the indoor and outdoor track and field all-time top-10 lists, along with eight school records between the indoor and outdoor seasons. Pole vaulter Nico Weiler '13 broke both the indoor and outdoor school records, captured the IC4A title and went on to earn first team All-America accolades for the second time in his career. The men's outdoor track and field team also recorded its best finish in a decade at the Heptagonal Championships, taking third at the competition. Allie Pace '14 followed in Weiler's footsteps, setting both the indoor and outdoor program marks in the pole vault.
The 2010-11 season saw the Crimson attain four new program records in both indoor and outdoor track and field competitions. Harvard had 12 student-athletes earn All-Ivy League honors, including four that captured Ivy individual titles (Nico Weiler ’13/Pole Vault, Dustin Brode ’14/Shot Put, Claire Richardson ’11/3,000, Hannah Mayer ’14/javelin). The men’s team recorded its best finish at Outdoor Heps since 2002, placing fourth in the competition, while the women posted the highest score in team history at the ECAC Indoor Championships. The Crimson also sent the largest contingent of athletes to NCAA Regionals in the history of the program, with 11 competitors qualifying. Brian Hill ’11 went onto qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 800 and Dan Chenoweth ’11 qualified for the NCAA Cross Country Championships for the third time in his career.
Saretsky helped three runners qualify for the 2009 NCAA Cross Country Championships, as Chenoweth, Kaylin Kuzmuk '12 and Claire Richardson '11 represented the Crimson. Richardson went onto qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in the 5,000 meter run. Both the Harvard men's and women's teams finished in the top half of the league standings at Indoor Heps for the first time since 2002.
In 2008-09, the Harvard women had their best finish at the Indoor Heptagonal Championships since 2002, finishing third with 79.5 points. At the ECAC/IC4A Indoor Championships, both the men’s and women’s teams were the top Ivy League finishers. Two Harvard athletes earned All-America honors in Becky Christensen ’09 and Nico Weiler ’13, as Weiler won the IC4As and the East Regional en route to his sixth-place finish in the pole vault, earning him USTFCCCA Northeast Field Athlete of the Year accolades.
Thirty-five top-10 times were added to the record books during the 2007-08 track and field season. Christensen won the indoor and outdoor high jump title at Heps, won the ECAC outdoor championships, earned All-America honors and cleared a personal best of 1.84 meters in the final at the U.S. Olympic Trials. Favia Merritt ’09 helped set two school records at Outdoor Heps, leading the women’s team to its best finish at the meet since 2003, placing fourth.
Saretsky came to Harvard following his success as the associate head coach of the track and cross country programs at Iona College, where we worked directly under head coach Mike Bryne, who was a four-time Northeast Coach of the Year.
During Saretsky’s time at Iona, the Gaels enjoyed unprecedented success. He helped Iona's men's cross country team to four-consecutive top-10 finishes at the NCAA Championships, including a pair of fourth-place finishes, and three NCAA regional titles in four years. Iona's women's cross country program won its first two Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference titles and registered its best finish in school history at the NCAA regional meet in 2005. Saretsky assisted in coaching the men’s cross country team to their 15th-consecutive MAAC Championship and the women’s cross country team to its first two MAAC Championships as well as 21 school records on the track. He coached 18 individuals to the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships, where 14 earned All-America honors in distance events.
Saretsky also is credited with promoting diversity by continuing to expand the international scope of Iona's recruiting efforts and bringing the women's program to the cusp of national prominence. His recruiting techniques brought in the most Dean Scholar candidates in Iona school history.
Before joining the staff at Iona, Saretsky spent two seasons as a graduate assistant at Columbia University, where he worked directly with the Lions' distance and middle distance runners and enhanced the program's recruiting efforts. At both Columbia and Iona, Saretsky implemented a new stretching routine and provided massage therapy which drastically reduced the team’s injuries.
Saretsky was a standout student-athlete in his own right as an undergraduate at Columbia. He was an Ivy League Heptagonal champion in the 3,200 relay, a member of Columbia's school-record relay squad in that event, and was a two-time All-Ivy League performer.
Saretsky graduated from Columbia in 1999 with a bachelor's degree in psychology. He added a master's degree in applied physiology from Columbia's Teachers College in 2001 and a master's in business administration from Iona's Hagan School of Business in 2006.
