Track and Field Heads to Princeton for Heptagonal Championships

The Crimson look to compete for the Ivy League title this weekend in Princeton, N.J. (Gil Talbot)

The Particulars
The Harvard track and field team travels to Princeton, N.J., for the 2010 Heptagonal Championships May 8-9 at Weaver Stadium. The Crimson returns to action for the first time since competing in the Yale Invitational, the Brown Invitational and the Penn Relays during the week of April 21.

Last Time Out
At the Brown Springtime Invitational, the Crimson men and women combined for five event wins, including three in the field events. Tyler Funk took the men's high jump title with a mark of 1.96 meters and Mary Hirst and Dina Emde comprised a one-two finish in the women's event with Hirst posting a winning clearance of 1.70 meters. Jessica Fronk earned the women's javelin title with a distance of 43.38 meters and Jakob Lindaas captured the men's 3,000 meter steeplechase. Graham Infinger and Kenneth Wang Ken rounded out Harvard's winners on the day with a one-two finish in the long jump, highlighted by Infinger's top jump of 6.55 meters. Jack Brady had the top collegiate mark in the men's hammer throw at 59.60 meters and Jasmine Cho turned in a runner-up time of 12.57 in the 100 meter dash.

Another group of athletes took part in the Yale Springtime Invitational where Ashtynn Baltimore paced the women with a win in the 100 meter hurdles and a second-place finish in the long jump. Sydnie Leroy tied for second in the pole vault with a mark of 3.55 meters and Kim O'Donnell took sixth in the 400 meter hurdles with a time of 1:06.10. Fedor Garin sparked the men's team with a top clearance of 4.80 meters in the pole vault and was followed closely by teammate Sean Gil in fourth. Scott Sansovich took fifth in the 110 meter hurdles with a 15.57 result and Robert Paris ran a time of 55.38 in the 400 meter hurdles, good for sixth place.

At the Penn Relays, the women captured the 4x800 and distance medley relays in a strong showing from the Crimson.

The Heptagonal Championships
The men's Heps were first contested in 1935 on the campus of Princeton and Harvard took the initial title with a total score of 57.75. The Harvard men have the fifth-most titles amongst Ancient Eight schools, claiming 10 overall. The men's last meet title came in 1983.

The women's meet was first run in 1977 at Schoellkopf Field in Ithaca, N.Y., and Dartmouth captured the first title. The Harvard women did not join the meet until 1979 and won its first and only title in 1990, totaling 131 points to edge Brown for the crown.

Last Year's Meet
Both sides of the squad showed improvement at the 2009 outdoor Heps as the men took sixth and women placed fourth. Becky Christensen '09 led the women's team by capturing the high jump and classmate Shannon Flahive earned a win in the heptathlon. Claire Richardson won the 5,000 meter run, and Jessica Fronk picked up her second-straight javelin title at Heps. Justin Grinstead captured the 400 meter hurdles win and Nico Weiler placed first in the pole vault in his first ever outdoor Heptagonal meet. Daniel Chenoweth took second in the men's 5,000 meter event.

Crimson Qualifiers
Heading into the 2010 Heptagonal Championships, a number of Harvard athletes have already qualified for the ECAC/IC4A Championships, taking place May 14-16 in Princeton, N.J.

On the men's side, John Dingus ran a qualifying time of 48.23 in the 400 meter dash and Brian Paison qualified in the 800 meter run with a 1:50.68 mark. Daniel Chenoweth (13:59.43) and Chas Gillespie (14:02.19) qualified in the 5,000 meter run, Phil Galebach (30:40.51) qualified in the 10,000 meter run and Justin Grinstead (53/59) qualified in the 400 meter hurdles. Both the 4x100 and 4x800 meter relay teams qualified and pole vaulters Fedor Garin and Sean Gil earned a spot at IC4A's with matching marks of 4.80 meters. Jack Brady's marks in the shot put, discus and hammer earned him qualification and he will be joined by Edward Brucker (shot put), Eric Clayman (hammer) and Aaron Palmer (javelin) in the field events.

Claire Richardson has already qualified for ECACs in the 3,000 and 5,000 meter runs and Thea Lee (2:11.15) and Carlyle Davis (2:08.26) both qualified in the 800 meter event. Melissa Bellin (1:01.81) qualified in the 400 meter hurdles, and both the 4x400 and 4x800 meter relay teams will make an appearance at ECACs. Mary Hirst and Dina Emde both posted qualifying marks of 1.70 meters in the high jump, Ashtynn Baltimore qualified in the long jump with a leap of 5.99 meters and Olivia Weeks earned a spot with a 12.21 meter mark in the triple jump. Shannon Watt (shot put) and Jessica Fronk (javelin) will compete in the throws at the ECAC Championships.