Harvard Track and Field Teams With Yale to Defend HYOC Titles

Harvard and Yale joined together to defend their titles in the biannual HYOC meet Tuesday at McCurdy Track (Gil Talbot).

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – On a blustery day at McCurdy Outdoor Track, Ancient Eight rivals Harvard and Yale joined together to successfully defend their titles in the biannual Harvard/Yale vs. Oxford/Cambridge track and field meet Tuesday. The Harvard/Yale men topped Oxford/Cambridge 13-6 for their second straight victory, while the women made it five consecutive meet wins with a 14-5 win over Oxford/Cambridge. The meet was scored so that the winning team in each event received one point.

"It was such an honor to be a part of this historic series," said director of Harvard track and field/cross country Jason Saretsky. "I was excited with the way our student-athletes performed and it was fun to see them teaming up with our rivals from New Haven."

Gabrielle Scott led off the meet with a second-place result in the 200, but her time of 24.68 represented a personal-best and the fifth-fastest time in team history. Kira Garry earned the win for the HY team with a time of 10:43.90 in the 3,000 steeplchase and the Bulldogs chipped in again on the distance events when Nihal Kayali captured the 1,500 in 4:36.60. Olivia Abbate led the charge in a 1-2-3 Harvard finish in the 100 hurdles, crossing the line in 14.37. In the first outdoor 400 of her collegiate career, rookie Autumne Franklin posted the ninth-fastest time in team history, winning the race in 55.91.

Sprinter Danielle Barbian took down a meet record in the 100, becoming just the sixth woman in Harvard history to break the 12-second barrier in the event. Her time of 11.98 led a 1-2 finish by the Crimson, with Ashley Collinsworth (12.11) finishing right behind her. A time of 1:02.65 saw Yale's Jenna Poggi capture the 400 hurdles title, and Harvard/Yale ended the day in fine style with the 4x100 relay team setting a new meet record of 47.30 in a significant victory.

The field events belonged to the Harvard/Yale team and Mary Hirst led off with a win and a personal best in the javelin. Her toss of 38.08 (124'11") ranks ninth all-time in Harvard history and was over 20 feet further than the closest competitor. Yale's Emily Uruciuoli earned a victory in the pole vault at 3.55 (11'7.75") and Alysha Johnson took the shot put. Adabelle Ekechukwu won the hammer throw handily with a winning distance of 55.81 (183'1") and Shannon Watt picked up a win on the day with a mark of 44.25 (145'2") in the discus.

A strong start by Connor McCarthy in the 200 propelled the Harvard/Yale men to a strong day on the track. McCarthy's time of 21.10 was nearly a half a second faster than his closest competitor, and signified a meet record for the junior sprinter. A classic showdown in the men's steeplechase ended favorably for the hosts, as Jakob Lindaas and Tom Watkins stayed tight the entire race and Lindaas had enough left in the tank to edge out Watkins by less than a second. Jarvis Harris made short work of the field in the 110 hurdles, burning to a time of 14.22, which represented a new meet record.

Harvard continued its strong showing in the sprints when Damani Wilson posted a time of 10.80 in the 100, good for the win and just .02 seconds off his top time. Yale's William Rowe chipped in for the Americans with a win in the 400 hurdles, crossing the line in 54.97, and teammate Tim Hillas took home the 5,000 by just over two seconds in 15:28.14.

A great battle in the men's hammer between Yale's Michael Levine and Harvard's Ben Glauser went to Levine, who posted a winning mark of 56.47 (185'3") to give the HY squad the point. The shot put was all about Harvard and Dustin Brode earned the title in the event with a distance of 17.28 (56'8.5"). Pole vault specialist Nico Weiler captured the event handily for the HY squad and Gain Fedor cleared 2.00 meters (6'6.75") to win the high jump. Malcolm Mason Rodriguez captured another event for the hosts with a distance of 7.21 (23'8") in the long jump, and earned his second win of the day with a mark of 14.61 (47'11.25") in the triple jump.

Courtesy Harvard