Women's Cross Country

What's the secret to success in women's cross country? According to Coach Frank Haggerty, staying "relaxed and trying to run with as little effort as possible" is the recipe.

He tells his runners to focus on how they're racing, not to concentrate on the end result. And in Friday's 3.1 mile New England championship meet, that strategy worked.

Finishing fifth out of 37 teams at their home course in Franklin Park, the Harvard women were especially excited to beat Ivy League rival Brown.

"It was definitely the best race of the season," said captain Heather Stroud. "[Brown] beat us pretty handily a couple weeks ago, so it was great to finish ahead of them today."

Harvard's top runner of the day, junior Margaret Schotte, pushed hard at the end for a 14th place finish out of 261 runners.

"It was the first week I didn't let myself get out-kicked at the end," Schotte said.

With so many people to pass and so many strong teams in the race, the competitive atmosphere helped Harvard's women to run a fast race.

"I cut a minute and 30 seconds off my best Franklin Park time this season," said sophomore Bethany Helms, Harvard's fourth finisher.

Sophomore Kathryn Moynihan who finished third for Harvard, also had a good race, shaving 30 seconds off her personal record.

"We've raced really well as a team this year," Moynihan said.

"[The women] focused on relaxation," Haggerty said. "Stress results from fearing the consequences, and today they didn't fear the consequences, so they ran well."

The Harvard women compete again in two weeks at the Heptagonal Championships.

Men's Cross Country

Harvard men's cross country placed ninth in Friday's five-mile New England championship meet. Caught in a bottle-neck at the start of the race, the men had a slow first mile and couldn't make up the time.