The Harvard men’s and women’s track teams kicked off their outdoor seasons with a Texas two-step over spring break, as they competed in the Texas State University relays and the Bayou Classic, both held at Rice University.

While there were no official places awarded at the competitions, the Crimson teams had stronger performances at the TSU relays, which are the fourth-largest track and field competition in the country. That meet took place during the first weekend of vacation, March 21-23, before an intense week of two-a-day practices.

“Our training was difficult but rewarding,” said freshman sprinter Anne Hillier. “It was sometimes difficult to run in the Texas heat.”

Following their stop in the south, both the men’s and women’s teams head up to Dartmouth next weekend to challenge The Big Green and Brown.

TSU Relays

Competing in a stadium filled with several thousand raucous fans, the Crimson men were led by strong performances in the distance events and relays.

Its distance medley relay team of seniors Christopher Antunes, Eric LaHaie and Matt Seidel, and sophomore Devin Lyons-Quirk captured first place with a time of 10:17.96.

Sophomore Russell Leino joined Antunes, Lyons-Quirk and Seidel on the 4x800 relay team, which finished in second place at 7:45.44.

Harvard also impressed in the 5000 meters, as senior Nathan Shenk-Boright and sophomore Reed Bienvenu finished in first and second place, respectively. Senior Taylor Banks had a solid showing in the 3000-meter steeplechase with a 9:58.27, second-place run.

In the field events, the Crimson men had fourth place finishes in the triple jump (freshman Sam Laine), javelin (James Patton) and shot put (sophomore Kris Hinson).

Girls co-captain Ashley Furst had the lone victory for the Crimson women with her 2:15.52 finish in the 800 meters. Junior Bev Whelan sealed the one-two finish for Harvard as she crossed the line in 2:17.39.

“I did not know I won until people told me,” Furst said. “There was a rabbit in our heat that sprinted the first 600 meters, then dropped out like it was a workout instead of a race. I did not see this, and kicked at the 600. When I was at the 700-meter mark, I didn’t see anyone ahead of me and figured she had already finished.”

Furst also placed third in the 400 meters in 58.53 seconds, while Whelan had another second-place finish in the 3000 meters in 10:05.06.

Harvard had several solid performances in field events on the day as well. Junior BreeAnna Gibson placed third in the shot put and javelin with distances of 13.18 meters and 33.81 meters, respectively. She also had a discus throw of 41.26 meters, good for fourth place.

“That was only my second meet in the javelin in my career at Harvard,” Gibson said. “So it was definitely nice to be able to place.”