“I think we’re in a good position,” Cochran said. “We’re running a lot better than we have in the past few years. We’re setting aside our individual goals to run for the team. Everybody’s excited to go for a run and work out.”

BROWN INVITATIONAL

While many members of the men’s and women’s cross country squads jumped on a plane to Indiana, Saretsky kept the rest of his runners fairly close to home to compete in the Brown Invitational last Friday. The meet brought several teams together from all over New England, including Brown, Rhode Island, Bryant University, UMass, and UConn.

“A good portion of our runners in this meet were middle-distance runners,” Saretsky said. “Cross country isn’t necessarily their focus, so the fast, flat course at Brown was really conducive to them going out and taking a step forward in their cross country training.”

Freshman Paul Koullick led the Crimson men with an eighth-place finish overall, clocking in at 26:06.10, while sophomore Jakob Lindaas followed right behind him, taking ninth place with a time of 26:12.60.

The two runners’ solid times helped Harvard take second in a field of four teams.

On the women’s side, junior Kristen Jorgensen set the pace for the Crimson, crossing the finish line in 18:18.20 to take 13th overall.

Captain Eliza Ives and freshman Morgan Kelly weren’t far behind, as their times of 18:26.70 and 18:36.40 garnered them 15th- and 22nd-place finishes, respectively, out of a field of 92 runners.

“Going to Brown, where you’re in the top 10 and top 20, is always a great opportunity to get a boost in confidence as you get ready for Heps,” Saretsky said.

—Staff writer Kevin T. Chen can be reached at ktchen@fas.harvard.edu.