Men's and Women's Track Set to Host Third Annual Battle of Beantown

Brian Hill qualified for IC4A's in the 800m at the Terrier Invitational

Head Coach Jason Saretsky's Video Preview

The Particulars:
The Harvard men’s and women’s track and field teams are set to host the third annual Battle of Beantown meet Saturday, Feb. 6 at Gordon Indoor Track. The Crimson will host Boston University, Boston College and Northeastern with field events beginning at 11 a.m., and track events beginning at 12:30 p.m.

The Battle of Beantown:
Saturday’s meet will mark the third Battle of Beantown, all of which have been held at Gordon Indoor Track. The inaugural Battle of Beantown was held on Feb. 3, 2008 with Northeastern taking the men’s title and Boston College posting a meet record 175 points to take the women’s crown. Harvard placed fourth of four teams on both sides in the first year of the event.

In the 2009 edition of the meet, the Crimson men totaled 169.5 points to top the Huskies (164), Eagles (86.5) and Terriers (83), for the title. The Boston College women took the title for the second straight year with a final total of 143, with the Crimson close behind at 132. Northeastern (115) grabbed third place by one point over Boston University (114).
At last year’s battle, the men captured five events on the day, including a 1-2-3 finish in the 3,000m run and a meet record and IC4A qualifying time in the 4x400m relay. The women took six events en route to their second-place finish, claiming the top three spots in the 60m hurdles.

Last Time Out:
Members of the Harvard men’s and women’s track and field teams competed at the Terrier Invitational at Boston University’s Track and Tennis Center January 29-30. Crimson athletes posted four ECAC/IC4A qualifying marks during the event.

In the men’s meet, junior Brian Hill finished second in the 800 meter run with an IC4A qualifying time of 1:50.80, while sophomore John Dingus qualified for the IC4A Championships in the 500 meters, placing second with a time of 1:04.09. Junior Sean Gil finished second in the pole vault, clearing a height of 4.56 meters.

On the women’s side, freshman Carlyle Davis was second in the 800 meter run in an ECAC qualifying time of 2:09.44. Junior Eliva Ives qualified for the ECAC Championships in the 5,000 meter run, crossing the finish line in 17:14.57. She finished seventh in the event.

Three members of the Harvard women’s track and field team also competed at the Harvard Multi Meet last Friday and Saturday at Gordon Indoor Track. Sophomore Nicole Sliva finished third and classmate Christine Reed placed fourth in the pentathlon. Newcomer Mary Hirst finished ninth in her first collegiate multi event.

Scouting the Field:
Boston University’s men’s and women’s squads competed at the Terrier Invitational last weekend. On the men’s side, junior Joel Senick remains one of BU’s top sprint threats as he took fourth in the 400m dash with a time of 48.48. Robert Gibson represents a solid distance runner, turning in a time 8:09.61 in the 3,000m at the Terrier Invitational, while throwers Jan Bicanic and Dan Withrow continue to score points for the Terriers in the field events. The BU women performed well in the sprints as Shelby Walton took second in the 55m dash with a mark of 7:15, and was followed closely by Whitney Ford in fourth (7.32). Walton, Jackie Dim and Catherine Milledge all recorded top-10 times in the 200m dash as well.
Boston College also competed at the Terrier Invitational in its last time out and saw junior tri-captain Mark Domaracki break the school record in the 500m with a time of 1:03.54. Timothy Ritchie (4:05.47), Ian Thomas (4:10.03) and Louis Serafini (4:10.09) all posted IC4A qualifying times in the mile on the men’s side. For the women, Grace Rodriguez took the title in the 1,000m run with a 2:52.51 mark, and Caroline King captured the mile run in a time of 4:50.80.

The Northeastern men are coming off a second-place finish last weekend at the Boston Indoor Games, led by senior Nate Hunter’s school record mark in the shot put of 19.49m. Hunter currently owns the second-best mark in the event in the country. Andrew Staples took the title in the long jump with a mark of 6.88m and Tejorn Davis was the triple jump winner with a distance of 14.24. The Northeastern women captured four events to take the team title at the Boston Indoor Games, fronted by Consadria Walker’s titles in the 55m dash (7.21) and long jump (5.75m). Althea Charles’ toss of 18.95m in the weight throw was good for first place and an NCAA provisional qualification, and the 4x400m relay team captured the win with a time of 3:56.07.

Making the Grade:
The Harvard men’s and women’s track and field teams have had eight athletes qualify for the IC4A/ECAC Championships in six events. Jack Brady has punched his ticket to compete in the shot put and weight throw while sophomore Steven Geloneck has recorded qualifying times in the 55 meter and 60 meter dashes. Darcy Wilson earned a spot in the field for the 1,000 meters after recording an IC4A qualifying mark while Hill (800m) and Dingus (500m) attained IC4A status in their last time out. On the women’s side, Ashtynn Baltimore qualified for the ECAC Championships in the 60 meter hurdles at the Harvard Invitational and Carlyle Davis (800m) and Eliva Ives (5,000m) both qualified in last week’s Terrier Invitational.

Home Sweet Home:
Harvard hosts five home contests this season. Including today’s meet, Gordon Track will serve as the host venue for four meets in 2010. Harvard has already hosted four meets this season, the Harvard Open, the Harvard Invitational, the Harvard Select Meet and the Harvard Multi-Meet. The Battle of Beantown is the final event that will be held at Gordon Track this season.

Coming Attraction:
The Crimson returns to action in the H-Y-P meet, squaring off against Ivy rivals Princeton and Yale on Feb. 13 in Princeton, N.J.