In the field, the Crimson is thinner than it has been in the past. With the graduation of Arthur Fergusson ’01 and an ankle injury last spring to sophomore Tekky Andrew-Jaja, the team has no experienced, healthy triple jump competitors.

The situation is different in the long jump, however, as veterans like Onyechi Ezekwuechem—an eighth-place finish last year—and some incoming freshmen are expecting to make an immediate impact.

In the throws, Harvard suffers an obvious loss in last year’s co-captains of John Kraay and Chris Clever, who scored at Heps last year in the shot put and weight throw, respectively. Senior David Grimm and sophomore Adam Geraldi will have to carry the load among returning athletes.

With talent across the board on the track and enough strength in field, Harvard can contend for the team title at Heps provided the team stays healthy. But all was good as of yesterday.

“We’re very strong and everyone is healthy so far—there are no substantial injuries,” Fuller said. “Our goal is to win the Ivy championship and we all believe we can do it.”

Harvard Women

The women’s team will be out to prove that it can stay at the top of the league with Brown and Yale despite losing one of its best classes in school history—a class that led Harvard to a second-place finish at last year’s Heps and an Indoor Championship two years ago. The Bears and Elis lost talented seniors as well. Brown, in fact, lost a Taylor of its own—Brenda’s twin sister Lindsay.

“We’ve lost some stellar athletes, but we also have some dedicated, talented athletes who are still here,” Grant said. “The worst thing anyone can do is underestimate our potential.”

“In a way it’s a nice position because we’re primed to surprise a lot of people who may not be giving us a second thought,” Haggerty said.

If the Crimson is to back up those claims, however, it will have to get scoring in a number of areas.

“Both the coaches and the competitors, we do recognize that those automatic points aren’t there and we simply have to develop people to score,” Haggerty said.

Two areas in which Harvard already has well-developed talent are the high jump and the throws.

Although four-time defending Heptagonal champion Gyorffy has moved on, Estonian junior Kart Siilats—the defending NCAA Indoor high jump champion—has the potential to be among the national leaders in the event again this year.

Grant, an NCAA provisional qualifier and a second-place finisher at ECACs in weight throw last year, should be the favorite at Heps after finishing third last year.

“Naturally I expect to build upon a good season last year, and I feel I’m stronger than last year,” Grant said.