UPDATED: March 30, 2015, at 1:33 p.m.
As it enters the outdoor portion of the spring season, the Harvard track and field team competed in three different meets over the weekend. Led by senior Danielle Barbian, who set two conference records at the Texas relays, the squad had solid performances at all three meets.
TEXAS RELAYS
Barbian set the tone for the weekend Friday when, as the only collegiate athlete invited to compete in the 100-meter dash, she placed fourth with a time of 11.46 seconds. It was the fifth-fastest time in the nation this season. Autumne Franklin finished third in the 400-meter hurdles, the only runner in the top five who was not from an SEC or ACC school.
“In the final, [Franklin] ran average for the first half of the race and well in the second half,” said associate head coach Kebba Tolbert. “We saw flashes of what could be.”
In the heptathlon, junior Madison Hansen continued the team’s assault on the record books, setting a personal best with a score of 5210 that ranked second in school history. Junior Autumne Franklin finished third in the 400-meter hurdles, the only runner in the top five who was not from an SEC or ACC school.
“It is a talented group, and they really work hard,” Tolbert said. “At nationals performances, we have to be at the very top” of their game.
Tolbert reinforced that while the team is not at the level they hope to be, they have made good progress since the beginning of the season. The coach noted that the team will debrief following the victory but that it is on track for the same goals that it made at the beginning of the season.
“We are not close to where we need to be in May and June, but we are in a good place for March,” Tolbert said.
RALEIGH RELAYS
In Raleigh, the team did well in the longer-distance races. Senior Whitney Thornburg finished the 5000 meter race in 16 minutes, 34.61 seconds—good for 10th-best in Harvard history. Her teammate, freshman Courtney Smith, was close behind.
In the men’s race, senior Dan Milechman broke a personal best by nine seconds, finishing in just over 14 minutes. He was beat out by teammate junior Tom Purnell, who nabbed a seventh-place finish.
“I was very pleased [with the results] overall,” Harvard coach Jason Saretsky said. “The spring season take a bit more of a different feel.”
TUFTS SNOWFLAKE CLASSIC
The younger half of the team’s long-distance contingent stayed closer to home, competing in the Tufts Snowflake Classic in Medford, Mass. on Saturday. The team was led by freshman Elianna Shwayder. The Ann Arbor, Mich. native finished the 3000 meter race by nearly half a minute faster than her next-closest competitor, or roughly five percent of her overall time.
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