13 minute read
Sports
UPCOMING EVENTS
WRESTLING Harvard competes on Saturday and Sunday in the EIWA Championships in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania after a season of promising results in tournament play.
MEN’S & WOMEN’S SQUASH Competitors from the Harvard squash teams look to win personal accolades in this weekend’s Individual National Championships. Both squads won team titles last week.
Men’s and Women’s Track & Field Place 2nd at Heps TRACK AND FIELD
By WILLIAM CONNAUGHTON CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
After a week of intensive preparation, the Harvard Track and Field Team was back in action at the Ivy League Heptagonal Championships in Ithaca, New York. Both the men and the women placed in second overall, with the men gaining their highest point total since 1985.
Highlighting the day were six individual titles and two first place relay finishes. Coming into the race both teams had aspirations for finishing first, but both teams fell short due to near perfect performances from the competition. The women missed out on first place by only seven points, finishing with 126, just behind the defending champion Penn. The men finished with 116 points, behind the perpetually dominant Princeton who finished with 173 points, winning their 6th title in a row.
“This is our best season in 35 years. And the best part about it: we are all hungry for more,” said junior co-captain Erick Duffy when prompted about this weekend’s performance. “Each and every person on the team now knows what we are capable of. Two years ago, getting 2nd at Heps was a dream, a fantasy. Today, it is not enough. That’s pretty special if you ask me.”
Day one of the championship saw senior standout Kieran Tuntivate pick up right where he left off from his record-breaking performance at the Valentine’s Invitational two weeks ago. Defending his title in the 3000m, Tuntivate won the event for the second year in a row. Despite not being quite as flashy as Tuntivate’s one-shoe finish covered extensively in the Crimson’s year end wrap-up last spring, Tuntivate’s 8:28.90 time was very impressive as the Delaware product cements himself as one of the best runners in the country, continuing his incredible run dating back to the cross country season in the fall. Fellow senior Will Battershill finished just behind Tuntivate in second with an impressive time of 8:29.16. The following day, Tuntivate picked up his second individual title with a win in the 5k, crossing the finish line with a blistering time of 14:20.65. Both runners have strong momentum going into the rest of the championship season after this weekend’s events.
Most of the running events took place on day two of the championships. First-Team All Ivy League junior Jovahn Williamson took home first place in the 400m, crossing the line with a time of 47.53. Williamson defended his title in the 400m and is looking to build on his success as the championship season progresses. A pair of freshmen, Aaron Shirley and Gregory Lapit, finished in third and sixth in the event respectively, as the Crimson cleaned up in the 400m. Junior Ryan Thrush brought home another individual title on day two, winning the 500m with a time of 1:03.54. Junior Charles Lego finished behind Thrush in fifth. Predictably based on the individual performances, the 4 x 400m relay team of Shirley, Lapit, Lego, and Williamson finished in first, as Harvard sprinters simply dominated the day.
Elsewhere on the track, firstyear Samuel Bennet came .02 seconds away from moving into second all time in the 60m hurdles, placing fourth in the event. Senior distance-runner Mike Kolor earned a fifth place finish in the 1000m run, picking up two points for the Crimson.
In the distance medley relay, first-year Acer Iverson, junior Kahlil Wassell, co-captain Kaeo Kruse, and senior standout Battershill placed second, with Battershill having the fastest split in the field, bringing the team from sixth all the way to second. This inspiring anchor leg captured eight important points for Havard. In the other men’s group event, junior Michael Alber, Kolor, sophomore Will Crisp, and Thrush placed fourth in the 4 x 800m relay.
On the women’s side, sophomore and sprinter Katina Martin dominated on the way to two individual titles in the 60m and 200m dash, finishing with times of 7.47 and 24.05 respectively. Not to be outdone, junior Olivia Okoli finished in third and second in the same events. Other strong performances included sophomore Sharelle Samuel’s finish in second in the 500m run with a new personal best on the day, junior cross country standout Anna Juul’s second place finish in the mile with a time of 4:46.6, and fellow junior Abbe Goldstein’s second place finish in the 800m run with a time of 2:10.13. In the 5k, a pair of seniors, Gillian Meeks and Brooke Starn placed fourth and fifth, on the way to capturing meaningful points for Harvard.
Similar to the men’s side, the women dominated the relay events. Juul, senior Karina Joiner, junior Tessa Medrano, and Goldstein cleaned up the distance medley relay, finishing in first with a strong time of 11:28.47. This performance was good enough to move into fifth all time in the Crimson record books. In the shorter relay event, the 4 x 400m relay team of Hughes, Okoli, Martin, and Samuel, all of whom had strong individual performances, continued their effective weekend, placing second.
“I’m super proud of how we came together as a team on both the women’s and men’s
NOT FINISHED YET Both Crimson teams, who came into the Championships ranked in the top two in the Northeast, will compete in the ECAC Championships at BU this weekend. ZING GEE—CRIMSON PHOTOGRAPHER
sides and stepped up to compete very well against some excellent teams,” said co-captain Martha Kebeh on the competition at Heps. “From here we just have to keep focusing on not only working hard but working smart to come back for an even stronger outdoor season.”
In the field, freshman Stephanie Ratcliffe locked up third in the women’s weight throw with a hurl of 18.54m, while fellow first year Estel Valeanu finished in sixth with a personal best in the event. Against strong competition, Duffy placed third in the men’s pole vault with a vault of 5.05m. Sophomore Kyle Murphy picked up fifth in the long jump, securing two additional points for Harvard. Senior Simi Fajemisin and sophomore Alana Carroll finished in seventh in the long jump and the pole vault, just missing out on scoring. In the pentathlon, senior Zoe Huges had a huge day, finishing in second with almost 4,000 points. This performance was highlighted by a first place finish in the long jump. The multi-event athlete Huges garnered eight valuable points for the Crimson on day one.
On day two, Harvard had an even better day in the field. Freshman Chet Ellis picked up a strong second place in the men’s high jump with a maximum height of 2.08m, and senior Donagh Mahon followed close behind Ellis in fourth. Fellow first-year Sarah Omoregie took home second in the shot put, with sophomore Chelsea Offiaeli just behind in fourth. On the men’s side of shot-put Firstyear Alexander Kolesnikoff threw 17.43m, good enough for third. Fajemisin and Murphy, who both competed in the long jump on day one, topped their performances on day two, as both athletes came in third in the triple jump. This finished off a strong Heps performance for the multi-event jumpers. In addition, freshman triple-jumper Mayi Huges finished in fifth in the event with a personal best, good momentum for the firstyear getting a taste of championship experience. “We have some people competing at the NCAA Indoor Championships in two weeks so that will be exciting to see what they can do there. After that, it is time for outdoor. The mindset stays the same as indoor: put ourselves in the best position possible to challenge for the win at Outdoor Heps,” commented Duffy on the team mindset going into the spring. “If we stay healthy, work as hard as we did during indoor, and go into the season truly believing in our capabilities as a team, there is nothing that can stand in our way.”
Overall, Heps was a success for Harvard Track and Field on the team and individual. The Crimson has the ECAC championships next weekend at BU before NCAAs and eventually the start of the outdoor season. The team is looking to carry forward the momentum they earned during this weekend into the rest of their competitions this season.
william.connaughton@thecrimson.com
Men’s Hockey Defeats Union, 4-1, on Senior Night MEN’S ICE HOCKEY
By SPENCER R. MORRIS CRIMSON STAFF WRITER
In Saturday’s regular-season finale, the Harvard men’s hockey team accomplished one of two goals on its agenda. It defeated Union, 4-1, to allow its senior class to celebrate its final home game with a victory.
But the two points over the Dutchmen (7-23-4, 5-15-2) failed to clinch a top-four conference finish for the Crimson (13-10-2, 11-6-5 ECAC). Rensselaer, the other squad vying for the final first-round bye in the ECAC playoffs, shutout Harvard on Friday and earned another win at Dartmouth on Saturday to oust the Crimson’s chances at fourth place.
“It’s definitely some mixed emotions, but it’s good to go out with a win,” Harvard captain Nathan Krusko said. “We still have a lot of business to take care of.”
The Crimson, ranked fifth in the conference, will host St. Lawrence in a best-of-three series in the first round of the ECAC tournament next weekend. The triumph on Saturday marks the sixth straight senior-night win for the Crimson program.
“It’s great to get a win on se
nior night,” Harvard coach Ted Donato ’91 said. “I think the whole group wanted to send [the seniors] off on a positive note…. It’s always bittersweet with these end-of-the-year games. You’re so excited looking toward the playoffs, but that last home game for that group of seniors that has given so much to the program is also very special.”
Early in the second period, the Crimson nabbed its first lead of the game — one that would persist until the final buzzer. The centers tied each other up on an offensive-zone faceoff, and forward Austin Wong separated from his defender as he picked up the loose puck. The rookie briefly stick-handled before shelfing a shot from in close.
Wong’s strike was ultimately the decisive one in Saturday’s affair.
Nine minutes later, the Harvard powerplay cashed in for its second of the tilt. Freshman Nick Abruzzese regained possession of the puck in the offensive zone, preventing a Union clear. The winger found sophomore Casey Dornbach through a seam on the unsettled play, and Dornbach did not squander the open-net chance.
The Crimson man-up unit converted again before the night concluded. Sophomore Jack Drury forced home a juicy rebound produced by classmate Jack Rathbone’s point shot.
The powerplay was just one side of Harvard’s impressive special teams performance. A chippy game resulted in numerous trips to the box. As such, the Crimson faced eight Dutchmen powerplays, but killed off all of them including a five-minute major. “All year, special teams has been a hard emphasis for us,” senior forward Justin Szeto said. “The powerplay has been near the top the entire year, and they pulled through for us today in a big way. And same thing with the kill. A lot of penalties taken, and maybe some calls we didn’t agree with, but when push came to shove, our kill was there, which was huge.”
Both teams found twine in the opening 20 minutes, but the visitors drew first blood. After Union won a puck battle in the corner, freshman Gabriel Seger found classmate Dylan Anhorn unguarded across the slot. The defenseman buried the chance before Harvard net-minder Cameron Gornet (1 GA, .958 SV%) could travel from post to post.
Then came the most pivotal moment of the incipient frame. Drury suffered a nasty hit in the Dutchmen’s zone, and once play was whistled down, coach Donato voiced his displeasure to the officials regarding the dangerous play against his centerpiece forward.
Upon review, the referees retroactively assessed junior rearguard Joseph Campolieto a game misconduct, gifting the nation’s most lethal powerplay a five-minute, non-releasable opportunity.
Half a minute into the man advantage, junior defenseman Reilly Walsh lit the lamp on a one-timer from the point. Rathbone teed up Walsh’s clapper, which zipped over the right shoulder of junior goaltender Darion Hanson (4 GA, .867 SV%).
The major penalty was the turning point of the first stanza, as it allowed the hosts not only to even the ledger but to gain control of play by the period horn. Harvard finished the frame ahead, 12-9, in shots.
“I thought that the first half-dozen minutes looked eerily familiar to our last couple of games,” coach Donato said. “Once we got on the powerplay, it looked like it kind of jumpstarted the group…. At that point, we started to invest in the game a lot more, emotionally and physically.”
Campolieto’s ejection wasn’t the only one on Saturday. With just seconds left in the middle frame, rookie John Farinacci was deemed done for the night due to an elbowing infraction. Even prior to the line shuffling necessitated by Farinacci’s misconduct, most Crimson forwards were skating on unfamiliar triplets. Following two disappointing results, Harvard jumbled its lines up front on Saturday.
Coach Donato split the lethal top line, opting instead for Wong on the first trio and Dornbach on the second line with Farinacci as his center. Juniors Henry Bowlby and Jack Badini were also disentangled from their usual second-line pairing. “I felt like our seniors all needed to be in the lineup tonight,” coach Donato said. “I think there’s a brotherhood in the locker room that understands that. To me, we’ll take a deep breath and figure out what we think is best moving forward.”
With Saturday’s bout, the five members of the class of 2020 bid farewell to their final regular season. Now, their careers in the crimson and white will last as long as the team’s postseason hopes.
Originally a cohort of eight, the group will graduate five strong after the early NHL departures of blue-liners Adam Fox and John Marino, as well as the transfer to Wisconsin of centerman Ty Pelton-Byce due to academic eligibility complications.
Of the remaining members, four are forwards. Krusko heads the bunch, having logged 53 career points (18–35— 53) and earned Beanpot MVP honors as a first-year winger on the Frozen Four-bound 2016- 2017 squad. Krusko leads this year’s iteration of the Crimson in games played, now with 129. Colton Kerfoot has skated in 80 matchups over his career, amassing 22 points (6–16—22) in the process.
Fellow British Columbia native Szeto (23 career GP, 0–1—1) has seen his role increase as an upperclassman and, by all accounts, has been an exemplar of the Harvard program on and off the ice.
Another Canadian, Frédéric Grégoire (84 career GP, 10–14— 24), has been an important roster piece for multiple of coach Donato’s teams. As a junior, the versatile forward found chemistry on the bottom six and was voted the most improved player by his teammates after the 2018-2019 season.
Gornet has manned the pipes for the Crimson for parts of four seasons. In 27 career appearances, the St. Louis, Mo. product is 10-5-3 on the backs of a 2.56 goals against average and a .916 save percentage.
In total, these five Harvard icemen have been a part of 75 program victories. Of course, they are hoping to add several more to that tally before they officially hang up the skates.
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