“The meet that really got us to nationals was Wisconsin, when we beat nationally-ranked teams,” Korolev said. “That was probably our best showing as a team.”
At the Heptagonal championships, the women’s squad repeated last year’s result with its third-place finish, while Korolev led the men’s team to a fourth-place showing.
Korolev’s time of 23:28.2 in the 8k race was good for an Ivy League record, besting the old mark by more than 13 seconds.
Though the team will be losing Korolev and Leakos next year, the Crimson men will look to strong runners such as sophomore Tom Purnell and juniors Will Geiken, Adam Cotton, and Nephat Maritim.
Hanley will be the women’s top returner in her senior season.
“For cross country, without a doubt we want to be able to compete for a Heps title,” Saretsky said. “We’ve seen the women’s team for track do it…. The men’s and women’s cross country [teams] would love to have that opportunity.”
—Staff writer Theresa C. Hebert can be reached at thebert@college.harvard.edu.