The NCAA Pre-Nationals separate the big dogs from the rest of the field in cross country.

For a Harvard team that is looking to see where it stands, this weekend was a huge race. After competing on Saturday, the Crimson runners felt that they belonged with the best Ivy League teams despite a poor showing.

The Crimson took a rested and select group of runners to Northern Iowa, where the men finished 32nd in a field of 35 teams and the women 26th out of 33. Both teams were plagued with physical problems ranging from sprained ankles to cramps.

“It was just not our day,” junior captain Reed Bienvenu said. “A terrible race.”

On the men’s side, Colorado won the meet with 109 points, led by the effort of top finisher Dathan Ritzenhein (23:17.7).

For the Crimson, junior Alasdair McLean-Foreman once again led the team in the eight-kilometer Gold Race by finishing in 25:47.4, good enough for 169th place. Toward the end of the race, McLean-Foreman developed a cramp in his side and struggled through the last part of the race.

“[Alasdair] is definitely one of the most naturally talented runners in the league,” Bienvenu said. “He just didn’t have a good race this weekend.”

Similarly, Bienvenu (26:20.1) ran with a painful cramp as he finished a disappointing 209th.

The top Ivy League finisher Saturday was Yale’s Lucas Meyer (24:10), who finished in 25th place, over a minute and a half ahead of McLean-Foreman. However, recent history between the two rivals has been in Harvard’s favor.

Two years ago, McLean-Foreman placed 23rd in the Heptagonals, finishing six seconds and five places ahead of Meyer.

Earlier this year, McLean-Foreman beat Meyer by a slim three seconds during the Harvard-Yale race.

But the true bragging rights for this individual rivalry will be decided as the two top runners face off in two weeks at Heptagonals.

On Oct. 31, McLean-Foreman will race against his main rivals Meyer and Jarrod Shoemaker of Dartmouth, who finished just behind Meyer this weekend, for the title of Ivy League champion.

“He’s definitely capable of doing that,” junior Sameer Narang said.

At Pre-Nationals, the only other runner to finish in the top two hundred was freshman Sean Barrett (25:53.2), earning him 179th place.