Race to the top

Harvard Track and Field put their best foot forward at the Crimson Elite meet on Feb. 6, with the men topping the opposition and the women finishing second out of 10 teams. On the women’s side, Gabrielle Thomas ’19 and Ngozi Musa ’19 took second and third in the 60 meters, respectively, with Thomas setting a Harvard and Ivy record with a time of 7.38 seconds. Thomas completed the day with a victory in the long jump.

Harvard placed three in the top four of the pole vault, led by sophomore Marlena Sabatino’s second-place finish and school-record height. Nicole Trenchard ’19 and Lexie Schachne ’16 also had career-best heights of 12 feet 3.5 inches (3.75 meters) to tie for fourth.

Nikki Okwelogu ’17 dominated the shot put, taking first place by nearly seven feet. Autumne Franklin ’16 took second in the 60 meter after being edged at the finish line. Franklin’s season-best mark was just .01 seconds off her career-high.

The Crimson men tallied top results in the jumps, with Spencer Lemons ’16, Malcolm Mason Rodriguez ’16, and Efe Uwaifo ’17 all claiming first place. Mason Rodriguez won the long jump with a season-best mark of 23 inches 1.25 inches (7.04 meters), while Uwaifo, competing for the first time in 2016, jumped to 50 feet 5.5 inches (15.38 meters) in the triple jump.

Jay Hebert ’18 dashed to first place in the 60-meter hurdles with the second-best in Harvard history. Alexander Moore ’18 placed second in the 400 meters, clocking in at 49.88 seconds, while Max Mondelli ’18 finished fourth in the 60 meters in 6.92 seconds. Both marks were collegiate-bests for the sprinters.

In the weight throw, Josh Whitener ’17 took third, while both Matthew Miller ’18 and Andrew Roney ’17 successfully cleared 15 feet 1 inch (4.60 meters) in the pole vault.

Nicky Maxwell ’19 made NCAA history in the 60 meters as the first organization-cleared runner with a prosthetic to compete at the collegiate level, clocking a career-best 9.01 seconds.

Following the Crimson Elite meet, the teams traveled to Ithaca, N.Y., for the Ivy League Indoor Heptagonal championships. The women captured their fourth Ivy title in a row, while the men finished fifth. Franklin was named the meet’s Most Outstanding Track Athlete after posting victories in the 400 meters and 60-meter hurdles, while also serving on the championship-winning 4-by-400 meter relay team. Thomas had a memorable meet as well, capturing victories in the 60- and 200-meter runs to go with her triumph in the long jump. Okwelogu captured her third consecutive Heptagonal title in the shot put, winning the event by nearly 10 feet.

The men’s squad captured a pair of victories in the meet, coming in the triple jump and 4-by-800 meter relays. Uwaifo defended his Heptagonal crown with a jump of 52 feet 2.75 inches (15.92) meters, setting a new career- and Harvard-best. After the meet, 17 student-athletes received All-Ivy League honors, and Jason Saretsky, the William W. “Bill” McCurdy Director of Track and Field/Cross Country, was named the co-coach of the year on the women’s side for the second year in a row.