Gibson’s classmate Alexandra Petrone nabbed second place in the javelin with an impressive showing of 40.97 meters.
Junior Andrea Li capped off Harvard’s field finishes, placing second in the pole vault (3.35 meters).
“As the first meet of the season, it is a great place to evaluate your marks and determine where you need to go from there,” Furst said. “Our team has made good marks on which we can improve.”
Bayou Classic
While the Crimson women did not have as many top-finishers in their second meet, their field competitors continued to impress.
Junior Johanna Doyle finished first in the hammer throw at 52.11 meters. Gibson finished in fourth place at 41.72 meters.
Nicky Grant ‘02 actually won the hammer throw, but was competing without affiliation and therefore was ineligible to officially place. Grant, a former team captain, All-America selection and top placer at the World Championships for Jamaica, was one of many former Crimson track and field athletes to compete in the meet.
“It was great to get to compete with her again and see her doing so well in the event she is training for in order to hopefully represent Jamaica at the next Olympics,” Gibson said.
Gibson added to her hammer throw performance with a third-place finish in the shot put (13.47 meters) and a fourth-place throw (42.47 meters) in the discus.
Her mark in the shot put was a new outdoor personal best.
Petrone had an impressive showing in the javelin with a distance of 39.81 meters, good for second place.
Freshman Adanna Scott was the only runner to place for the Crimson, as she finished second in the 400-meter hurdles in 1:03.50.
The men’s team also had a strong outing in it’s field events at the Bayou Classic.
Hanson won the shot put at 15.21 meters, and Laine took first-place honors in the triple jump with a distance of 14.56 meters.
Freshman James Rhodes won the hammer throw at 47.83 meters, and junior Adam Gelardi finished in third place behind him at 38.32 meters.
Harvard had six more third-place finishes on the day, led by LaHaie in both the 110-meter hurdles (16.23 seconds) and the 400-meter hurdles (56.34 hurdles).
“These were pretty good performances for the team considering we were not at full strength,” co-captain John Traugott said. “Our solid training will kick in in a couple of weeks, so we’ll be well-prepared for the more important meets coming up. As long as we stay healthy and consistent, we’ll see some really positive improvements in our performances.”
—Staff writer Samita A. Mannapperuma can be reached at mannapp@fas.harvard.edu.