Harvard also got first-place finishes from co-captain Carrie McGraw, who turned in a time of 57.02 seconds in the 400-meter dash, and junior Ashley Furst, who set a personal best in winning the 800-meter run.
The Crimson even earned points in the steeplechase, an event which Yale added for this year’s competition, with second- and third-place finishes.
Harvard Men
While the women rode an overpowering showing in the field events to victory, the men’s attack was much more balanced, including sweeps in the 200-meter dash, the 800-meter run, the 1500-meter run and the triple jump.
As good as Lambert’s Ivy season-best time of 10.46 seconds in the 100-meter dash was—and it was the second-fastest time in Harvard history—his 20.82-second mark in the 200-meter dash was even more impressive. In addition to topping the 2002 Ivy charts and earning Lambert second place in the Harvard record books, it also made him a provisional NCAA qualifier.
“Seeing that, it just gets you more fired up to do the best you can,” Fuller said.
Clearly, the motivation worked, as Fuller’s time of 21.63 seconds in the 200 trails only Lambert among Ivy runners. Junior Sean Meeker completed the sweep, finishing in 21.9 seconds despite the pouring rain.
In the 400-meter dash, Fuller fought a stiff wind on the back stretch but cruised to victory in 48.1 seconds.
In addition, seniors Shawn Parker and Rich Bravin placed second to Yale standout Thomas Hocker in the 110-meter and 400-meter hurdles respectively.
Senior Nnamdi Okike won the 800-meter run, finishing ahead of sophomore Alasdair McLean-Foreman, who played a role in a second sweep by winning the 1500-meter run.
The 4x100-meter relay team comprised of Parker, Meeker, Fuller and Chris Lambert won in 41.15 seconds, a time second only to the school record of 41.07 seconds that the quartet set last week at Columbia.
Fuller wasn’t done though, as he took second in the triple jump in just a single leap, falling only to freshman Travis Hughes. Freshman Zachary Raynor rounded out the sweep.
David Grimm and Nathan Shenk-Boright also earned five points for Harvard by winning the shot put and the 5000-meter run, respectively.
The win was even bigger for the Crimson considering that the home team had won the last several Harvard-Yale meets.
“To go in and beat Yale at their place has been a tough thing for us in the past,” co-captain John Cinelli said.
Next weekend, the top men’s and women’s performers will compete in the prestigious Penn Relays. The rest of the squad will head north to the UNH Invitational, but, either way, the wins over Yale have put both Crimson teams in a good position entering the rest of the season.
“Based on yesterday’s meet with 68 season-best performances and two victories over the Elis, I think we’re moving in the right direction,” assistant coach Paul Turner said.
After beating Yale, how could they not be?