M. Cross Country Overtakes Yale

Last weekend represented a mixed bag for the Harvard cross country teams. While the women’s team lost both matches of their dual meet, the men’s team won its lone contest of the weekend.

The Harvard women ran in Princeton, N.J., at the Harvard-Yale-Princeton meet, falling to Princeton by the score of 20-39 and to Yale by the score of 21-37. The only Harvard woman to place in the top 10 finishers was sophomore Mairead O’Callaghan, who placed ninth.

The men’s team enjoyed a much more successful weekend, defeating Yale in New Haven, Conn., by the score of 22-35.

The Crimson occupied six of the top 10 spots in the race.

Sophomore Alisdair McLean-Foreman won the race for the Crimson, finishing with a time of 25:55.

Juniors Nathan Shenk-Boright and Matt Seidel finished second and fourth respectively, with times of 25:59 and 26:10. Rounding out the top 10, captain John Friedman finished sixth, senior John Cinelli finished ninth, and junior John Traugott came in tenth.

McLean-Foreman’s time of 25:55, good for a new course record, set the tone for the rest of the men’s team.

“He’s a tremendous talent,” Friedman said. “He’s really on pace to be one of the top two or three runners in the league.”

The cross country teams are gearing up for the most intense part of their season, with the New England Championships beginning this Friday at Franklin Park and the Heptagonal Championships slated for Oct. 26th in New York City.

“Next week we have New Englands, which is another tune-up for us,” Friedman said. “Our focus is on the Heptagonal Championships and the NCAA District meets.”