Cross Country Welcomes 20 Freshmen For 2010 Season

Harvard welcomes seven freshmen women and 13 men to its ranks in 2010 (David Silverman).

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The Harvard cross country team announced 20 freshmen will join the roster for the 2010 season. The Crimson opens its season Sept. 18 at the Iona Meet of Champions at Van Cortlandt Park in New York and has a total of seven scheduled meets in 2010.

"I am incredibly excited about both our men's and women's incoming classes," said Jason Saretsky, Director of Harvard Track and Field and Cross Country. "We bring in a great mix of middle distance and distance women who should be able to contribute to our program and our men's class boasts three runners who have broken the nine-minute mark in the two mile event, which should rank it as one of the best freshman classes in the nation."

The Harvard men placed sixth at the 2009 Ivy League Championships and turned in a 10th-place finish at the IC4A Championships. Daniel Chenoweth ’11 captured the individual Ivy League title and represented the Crimson at the NCAA Championships. The women placed fifth at the league championships and ninth at ECACs and had three runners, Claire Richardson ’11, Kailyn Kuzmuk ’12 and Sammy Silva ’13, earn all-region accolades. Both the men and the women received USTFCCCA team all-academic honors in 2009.

Here is a look at the Harvard cross country class of 2014:

MEN

James Leakos, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan/Holy Cross
Served as captain of the cross country team … Three-time team MVP in cross country and track … Two-time qualifier for world junior cross country championships … Captured four provincial championships in cross country and the 3,000-meter run and three in the 1,500-meter run … Recipient of the Senior Chemistry Award.

Kurt Ruegg, Yountville, Calif./Napa
Named cross country MVP as a freshman and a sophomore … Received all-league cross country honors all four years and all-league track honors as a junior and a senior … Named to the all-state freshman and sophomore teams and was the Monticello Empire League (MEL) cross country champion his final three years … Named to the All-West cross country third team as a junior and second team as a senior … Section runner of the year as a senior and San-Joaquin section champion … Footlocker finalist … Ran fastest 5k time, 15:34, at the Standford Invitational.

Maksim Korolev,  Harrisonville, Mo./Harrisonville
Gatorade Missouri Runner of the Year and Kansas City Metro Runner of the Year 2009-10 … Named to the All-Midwest second-team in 2009 … All-state in cross country all four years and all-state in track as a sophomore, junior and senior … Earned all-state recognition in both the 1,600 and 3,200-meter events.

Aaron Watanabe, Norwich, Vt./Hanover
Member of the cross country and track and field teams at Hanover and served as captain of both squads as a senior … Named cross country team MVP and all-state as a junior and senior … Recorded personal best time of 4:18.00 in the 1,600-meter run and 8:59.43 in the 3,200-meter run … New Hampshire Class J all-star and Union Leader all-state as a senior … Also garnered all-star status in track as a junior and a senior and named team MVP as a senior … Hanover High School co-athlete of the year as a senior … Class valedictorian and National Merit Scholar.

Kellen Blumberg, San Diego, Calif./Patrick Henry
Ran track and cross country at Patrick Henry and captained both teams as a junior and senior … Named All-CIF for cross country and helped team to Division I championship in 2008 … Named to the Union Tribune Cross Country All-Academic team in 2008 and named a captain and Runner of the Year in 2009 … Captured the Division II individual title and helped squad to team title in 2009 … Recorded a time of 15:12 in the 5K and 9:17 in the 3,200 meter run … Enjoys pool basketball, boogie boarding, eating and spending time with family … Cousin, Sean Zanderson, graduated from Notre Dame in 2001, ran cross country for the Irish and is now sponsored by Movin’ Shoes Addidas.

Tyler Cusick, Westfield, N.J./Westfield
Member of the cross country and track and field teams at Westfield, serving as captain of the cross country team as a senior … Named to the all-county cross country team in 2008 and 2009 … Also named to the all-county indoor and outdoor track teams in the 800-meter run and the all-area indoor track team in 2010 … Helped cross country team to group IV state championship and led cross country and track teams to five county championships … Male valedictorian and National AP Scholar.

Peter Dolan, Mass./Xaverian Brothers
Member of the track and field and cross country teams at Xaverian Brothers and captained both squads as a senior … Cross country team MVP in 2007, named a Catholic Conference cross country all-star in 2006 and 2007 and a tri-county league all star in 2009 … Catholic Conference outdoor track all-star in 2008 and 2009 … Part of the state champion 4x800-meter relay team and helped cross country team to league titles in 2006 and 2007.

Paul Koullick, Golden Valley, Minn/Blake School
Member of the cross country and swimming teams at Blake and served as captain of both squads as a senior … Claimed an individual state title in 2009 and was the state cross country runner-up in 2010 … Helped cross country team to state championship in 2009 … Led swimming team to state championships in 2008, 2009 and 2010 … Enjoys windsurfing, soccer and chess.

Erik Kraus, Hillsborough, N.C./Durham Academy Upper
Captained the cross country team as a junior and senior and track and field team as a senior … Holds personal-best times of 1:56.00 in the 800-meter run and 50.80 in the 400-meter run … Four-time cross country all-conference and three-time all-state honoree … Helped team to two conference and state championships and was named team MVP in 2007 … Four-time track and field all-conference and all-state honoree and team MVP as a senior.

Ian Myjer, Mountain View, Calif./Mountain View
Member of the cross country and track and field teams at Mountain View, serving as captain of both squads as a senior … Turned in a time of 15:17 at the 2009 California State Cross Country Meet … Ran a time of 4:16.66 in the 1,600-meter run at the 2010 Central Coast Section finals … School underclassmen record holder in the 3,200-meter run with a time of 9:30.00 … Named cross country MVP in 2006 and 2007 and track MVP in 2008 … Received all-county cross country accolades in 2007, 2008 and 2009 and was named to the All-Northern California squad in track in 2008 and 2009 … Ran best time, 15:17, at the California Interscholastic Federation State Meet.

Ryan Romain, Rockford, Mich./Rockford
Member of the varsity cross country, track and field and bowling teams at Rockford … Garnered all-state honors in the 4x400-meter relay as a junior and in the 4x800-meter relay as a senior … Named all-conference for track and field as a senior … Part of school record-holding 4x800-meter relay team (7:49.19) … Class valedictorian.

Jared Sawyer, Unionville, Conn./Farmington
Served as captain of track and field team as a senior … All-conference track and field honors as a sophomore, junior and senior and all-state as a junior … School record holder in the 4x800-meter relay with a time of 8:03.20 and Class L title in the event in 2009.

WOMEN

Kristina Funahashi, Newport Beach, Calif./Corona del Mar
Served as captain of cross country team as a senior and captain of the track and field team all four years … Recipient of team coaches award and top-10 results at league and state meets … Helped team to cross country state and CIF finals championships as a senior and 10th-place finish at Nike team nationals … Ran best 5k time at the California Interscholastic Federation State Meet finishing in 18:17.

Catherine Hasbrouck, Santa Paula, Calif./Nordhoff
Four-year letterwinner in both track and cross country  and served as captain of both teams as a senior … Four-time all-league and all-state and two-time all-county honoree in cross country… Three-time cross country league champion, scholar-athlete, league all-academic team honoree and team MVP …  Ran best 5k time at the California Interscholastic Federation State Meet finishing in 18:33 … Three-time track and field scholar-athlete award recipient … Division IV champion in the 3,200-meter run as a senior, recording personal-best time of 10:47.00.

India Peek Jensen, Spring Lake, Mich./Spring Lake
Served as captain of the cross country team as a junior and senior and captain of the track team as a senior … Three-time first-team all-conference and all-region selection and three-time state finalist in cross country … Named to the all-state cross country team as a freshman and a senior and the academic all-state cross country team as a senior … State finalist and all-region track and field selection as a sophomore … Helped cross country team to state championship titles as a freshman and a senior and a regional title as a freshman … Ran to a time of 19:07.3 at the Michigan State Championship – Lower Peninsula race.

Alaina Murphy, Seymour, Wisc./Seymour
Two-year captain of basketball and cross country teams … Four-time all-conference, all-area and state qualifier and all-state honoree in 2008 … Cross country team MVP all four years … All-conference basketball player as a sophomore, junior and senior and team MVP in 2008 … Track team MVP all four years and all-state and all-conference honoree all four years … Two-time state champion (4x400-meter relay and 800-meter run) … Green Bay Press-Gazette female athlete of the year as a senior … Valedictorian and Thunder Runners Club scholarship recipient.

Li Murphy, Pocatello, Idaho/Annie Wright
Four-year letterwinner in both track and field and volleyball … Captained both squads as a junior and a senior … Four-year state qualifier in track and 2009 state champion in 400 and 800 meter events.

Natalia Paine, Northampton, Mass./Northampton
Four-year member of soccer, indoor and outdoor track teams at Northampton … Served as captain of all three teams as a junior and senior … Republican first-team track and field every season … Member of the all-star Massachusetts relay at USATF national indoor meet in 2009 … Holds nine school individual and relay records and two league records in the 600-meter run and the 4x400-meter relay.