“It is very difficult to gage where we are at this point in the season,” Gelardi said. “The schools we were competing against have been able to be outside for weeks now and for us it was the first time we were able to pick up some of the outdoor events due to poor weather in Boston.”
Nevertheless, with a number of key athletes resting up in order to be at full strength for the main stretch of the outdoor season, it may be a few weeks before the Crimson reveal the full effect of its combination of youthful talent and some more experienced runners.
WOMEN
For the women, the high expectations leading into outdoor season seemed to be validated by the general success in its first meet.
“Honestly, once we get out of conference, the level of competition is just as tough or sometimes tougher,” senior thrower BreeAnna Gibson said.
“Considering we had a limited number of people, it was our first opportunity to go outdoors and we still had jetlag from the plane ride, I definitely think the meet reflects that we are really strong going into the outdoor season,” Gibson said.
Unfortunately for her personally, Gibson dislocated her big toe the day before the meet and was hampered by the injury. Nevertheless, she still managed to finish sixth in the hammer throw (42.71m) and eighth in the shot put (12.53m).
However, her fellow field athletes showed their collective strength amongst some of the best competition in the country. Senior Johanna Doyle placed third in the hammer throw with a toss of 51.93 meters. So far, Doyle’s skill has her amongst the top twenty in the country—and definitely the woman to beat in the Ivy League.
Senior Alexandra Petrone—another standout for the field team—placed second in the javelin, which along with discus and hammer throw are events limited to the outdoor season in which the Crimson will look to grab points all spring.
On the track, sophomore Laura Maludzinski continued what has been a year filled with continued improvement as she ran a personal record in the 800m—earning fourth place with a time of 2:10.86.
Close behind her with three fellow teammates who took places seven through nine, led by senior Beverly Whelan who finished in 2:18.50.
Both Maludzinski and Whelan were back out on the track for the 1500m as well, finishing fifth (4:35.27) and seventh (4:41.18), respectively. Senior Rosalinda Castaneda rounded out Harvard’s scoring in the event with a time of 4:44.52.
The Crimson is still looking for more practice outdoors, however, before it feels it will be at full strength and ready to make a run for the top three spots at Heptagonals.
“We have had only maybe one or two good days to throw outside,” Gibson said. “It’s just not the same indoors, and it’s not the same ring. But we do have a lot of seniors, are extremely experienced and are a close-knit team—all of which feeds what we hope will be improvement and resounding results.”
—Staff writer Gabriel M. Velez can be reached at gmvelez@fas.harvard.edu.