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The men’s and women’s cross country teams traveled to Bethlethem, Penn. last Saturday to compete at the Paul Short Run at Lehigh University. The women’s team placed first overall with a total of 134 points, and the men’s team finished second with 95 points overall.

The women’s team win marks the first time in Crimson history that Harvard has won this meet. In the wake of the unprecedented victory, Coach Jason Saretsky spoke on how the team prepared for the meet.

“Our preparation is what it is every year, which is to focus on the championship part of our season,” Saretsky said. “The team has been working really hard, and the expectations were to go out there and have a really good hard effort and get a sense for where we’re at and what our team identity is this year.”

Along with preparing for the meet on the technical side, one of the coach’s focal points is to make sure the team is enjoying the journey.

“The biggest thing is to have fun,” Saretsky said. “This is what we train for, to compete, so that was really the focus.”

The team had a total of six top-50 finishers for the women’s 6K race, and five top-25 finishers for the men’s 8K race. Some standout performances included senior runner Ben Rosa, who had the best time result for the Crimson on the men’s side. Rosa finished in 15th place with a time of 23:52.6 seconds. Sophomore runner Sam Burgess trailed just behind Rosa, finishing in 16th place with a time of 23:55.0 seconds.

On the women’s side, senior runner Ella Gilson represented Harvard well, ending in 20th place with a time of 20:34.80 seconds. Senior runner Annelies Quinton and junior runner Zoe Cooper also ran times that earned them top-30 positions, running 20:42.10 seconds and 20.42.4 seconds respectively.

Saretsky noted that despite the men’s squad missing the top spot, the only team that beat the male runners, Wingate University, is a Division II team. Therefore, the Crimson men’s team can pride itself for the top D-I finish at the meet. The second place finish can potentially be attributed to a fall and subsequent pile up of runners that occurred at the beginning of the race.

“The race got off to a bit of a quick start and then someone fell, and then someone fell over them, and there was a massive pile up of bodies about like a minute into the race,” junior Shane Brosnan said. “So myself and a bunch of guys on the team went down.”

Despite several runners falling in the chaos of the pile-up, the team quickly recovered and made up for the lost time.

Brosnan credited his team for its resilience, while emphasizing the surprising nature of the upset. “It was still a bit of a shock to lose to a school that wasn't really on our radar," he said.

Following the Paul Short Run, the Crimson will compete in one more meet before the Ivy League Heptagonal Cross Country Championships on Saturday, Nov. 2.

After the women's first-place finish and the men's second-place finish at the 2023 Ivy League Championship, the Crimson women aim to defend their title, while the men are determined to claim the top spot this year. Brosnan has high hopes that this year’s championship will be different.

“Heps is a meet that we somehow manage to lose by one or two points every year,” Brosnan said, using the team’s shorthand for the upcoming race. “This year we're very confident in our fitness, and the individuals we have, and we are very excited to try to win.”

Looking ahead to the NCAA Cross Country National Championship on Nov. 23, the Crimson runners have set ambitious goals, driven by the exceptional talent of their squad this year. This deep foundation of talent includes senior distance runner Graham Blanks, the 2023 NCAA D-I Cross County Champion, who took his talents to the 2024 Paris Olympics this past summer.

To achieve these ambitious goals, Saretsky highlighted the team’s commitment to steady progress, focusing on taking things one day at a time.

“Each and every day just trying to get better and just putting in the work to have a season that we are all proud of,” Saretsky said.

Following a week off, the Crimson will split its attention between two meets: the 2024 ECAC/IC4A Championships in Van Cortlandt Park in New York City, N.Y., on Friday Oct. 18, while the rest of the squad will travel to Madison, Wis. for Pre-Nationals on Saturday, Oct. 19.

—Staff writer Nadia Fairfax can be reached at nadia.fairfax@thecrimson.com.

—Staff writer Natalie Weiner can be reached at natalie.weiner@thecrimson.com.