Still, Hirst’s runner-up performance earned the squad eight points.
While their teammates were competing in Boston, sophomore Erika Veidis and junior Maksim Korolev were at Columbia’s Last Chance Meet, which was held at the Armory Track and Field Center in New York, N.Y. Both athletes turned in personal-best performances in their respective events.
Veidis, who has been a force in the middle distances all season long for Harvard, ran the second fastest time in Crimson history in the 800-meter, clocking in at 2:05.70. The time was good for second place at the meet, and may have earned the sophomore one of the 16 qualifying spots at the NCAA Indoor Championships. According to Saretsky, Veidis is “on the bubble,” and is awaiting the results of the women’s 800 at other premier meets this weekend.
Korolev also had a big outing in the Big Apple, running the mile in a personal-best time of 4:03.
Thus far, Ekechukwu and freshman Martina Salander, who did not compete this weekend, are the only Harvard athletes who have punched their tickets to the championship meet in Fayetteville, Ark.
“[This weekend] was a little bit more low key than last weekend, obviously,” Saretsky said. “For the most part, the athletes that were competing did an outstanding job.”
—Staff writer Dominic Martinez can be reached at dmartinez@college.harvard.edu. Follow him on Twitter @dominicmtz.