While most of Harvard’s top competitors were at Penn, the athletes whose level of improvement will ultimately determine the Crimson’s placement at Heps were at UNH.

“Right now we’re definitely focusing on the places where we need the points to actually get a victory [at Heps] rather than just coming in second or third,” Fuller said. “We’re trying to focus on where we can improve. Our sprints are definitely the strongest in the league, and our distance is strong, too. Where we’re lacking is the field events, and we’ll need to step it up in that area to actually get a victory.”

The lack of scoring in the field events was part of the Crimson’s downfall in a fourth-place finish at Indoor Heps. With even more field events in the outdoor season, they’re even more crucial.

But the team has responded to the challenge so far. Senior David Grimm has emerged as one of the league’s top throwers, and D.J. Patterson had a major improvement in the discus at UNH this weekend that has him in range to score at Heps.

Travis Hughes, a freshman jumper, won the long jump at UNH, which is a sign of encouragement.

“I think [our competitors in the field events] have improved quite a bit in the outdoor season,” Cinelli said. “Hopefully they’ll be able to pull some more points for us outdoors.”

The Crimson will find out whether that becomes a reality when Heps is contested at Navy in two weekends.

“I think Penn and Princeton look a bit stronger on paper right now, but we definitely have places where we can make up points,” Cinelli said. “We don’t have as good a chance as Penn or Princeton, but we definitely have a shot at winning it.”