It was a busy Saturday for Harvard cross country as the squad split its ranks to compete in six races between the 42nd University of Albany Invitational in New York and the Pre-Nationals hosted by Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Ind. And while the day’s schedule was packed, several student-athletes found time to set some personal records.

“We really sat down and figured out what was best for each individual,” Harvard coach Jason Saretsky said of splitting the squad. “There’s a high level of competition at Pre-Nationals...so most of our top performers went on the trip to Pre-Nationals.”

Last year, the Crimson did not attend Pre-Nationals because, according to Saretsky, the squad was “too young.” The team last competed there in Saretsky debut season as coach two years ago.

“Out of 20 athletes that competed at Pre-Nationals, only one had been there before,” Saretsky said, adding that junior Stacy Carlson had gone to the meet as a freshman.

Harvard has the week off before traveling to New York City for the Heptagonal Championships in Van Cortlandt Park.

42nd UALBANY INVITATIONAL

The women’s squad notched a ninth-place finish in the Bobbi Palma-Women’s Championship Race. Sophomore Cara Spargue led off the Crimson scoring with her 17th-place time in the 5K race of 18:28.2, which was a new personal record.

“I was just overall impressed with the way they competed,” Saretsky said. “Cara took a big chunk of time off what she ran on the same course last year.”

Rookie Alison Lee and sophomore Thea Lee finished back-to-back in the 34 and 35 spots, respectively, and just .3 seconds apart—the former coming in at 18:51.5 and the latter with a time of 18.51.8.

Freshmen Jenne Mack and Kristen Jorgenson rounded out Harvard’s scoring with solid 64th-place, 19:17.0 and 78th-place, 19:39.3 finishes, respectively.

On the men’s side, Stephen Chester led the 16th-place team finish in the R.K. Munsey Men’s Championship Race with his individual 26th-place showing at 25:50.6 in the 8K.

“He took a whopping off his time,” Saretsky said of Chester’s strong performance. “He went from 27-something to 25-something, so I was pleased with that.”

Fellow junior Robert Kenney crossed the line at 26:12.9, good for a 48th individual finish. Sophomores Tommy Hutchison—who is also a Crimson sports comper—and Michael Hoffman finish just 0.1 seconds apart from one another—Hutchison at 26:57.8 and Hoffman at 26:57.9—for the 96 and 97 spots out of the 186-man field. Sophomore Brian Hill rounded out the Crimson runners with a 28:19.5 finish, good enough for 137th place.

PRE-NATIONALS

The top Harvard runners traveled to Indiana State University to take on the nation’s top runners, and the Crimson has to be pleased with the results.

Anchored by sophomore Dan Chenoweth, the Harvard squad put up five solid showings en route to a 28th-place team finish. Chenoweth’s 24:05.5 time was good for 21st overall individually and a personal best in the men’s 8K Blue Race.

Men’s captain Chas Gillespie pulled in 30 seconds later at a personal-best 24:35.6, earning him 64th overall.

A pair of freshman—Stephen Couch and Dan Stiles—and sophomore Ryan Neely rounded out Harvard’s score earners. Couch crossed the line at 25:44.4, Stiles at 25:50.1, and Neely at 26:02.0, earning the trio 202nd, 211th, and 226th individual placements, respectively, in the 276-man field. Junior Vito Cannavo and freshman Ben Enowitz also raced, finishing at 26:05.5 and 27:08.3, respectively.

“The race was like a wild extravaganza out there, because there were so many teams and so many runners and so many good runners,” Gillespie said. “So we were just trying to do our thing. And I think we did that. We got a lot of new [personal records].”

In the women’s 6K White Race, sophomore Claire Richardson led the Crimson pack with her 65th individual placement, coming in at 21:33. Classmate Jamie Olson followed up with a 21:42 time, good for 79th.

Freshman Nicole Cochran and sophomores Hilary May and Meghan Houser finished out the third, fourth, and fifth-place finishes for the team. Cochran finished in 22:02, May at 22:09, and Houser at 22:34 for 112th, 129th, and 171st finishes individually. Carlson and sophomore Eliza Ives also competed, meriting 22:41 and 22:59 finishes, respectively.

Freshman Kailyn Kuzmuk (22:47.2), sophomore Meghan Cleary (22:50.7) and junior Caitlin Clifford (22:54.2) also competed in the women’s 6K open race, while sophomores Mark Hirschbock (26:12) and Alex Brenner (26:37), and freshman Darcy Wilson (26:50) represented Harvard in the men’s 8K open race.

—Staff writer Dixon McPhillips can be reached at fmcphill@fas.harvard.edu.