{"id":3573,"date":"2023-04-05T19:47:14","date_gmt":"2023-04-06T00:47:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mcthrows.com\/?p=3573"},"modified":"2023-04-05T19:47:56","modified_gmt":"2023-04-06T00:47:56","slug":"the-force-awakens-harvard-throwers-shine-at-the-2023-florida-relays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mcthrows.com\/?p=3573","title":{"rendered":"The Force Awakens: Harvard Throwers Shine at the 2023 Florida Relays"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t underestimate the Force<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A long time ago\u2026last weekend, actually\u2026in a galaxy far, far away\u2026well, Florida\u2026Coach Darcy Wilson’s intrepid group of Harvard throwers sent a tremor through the NCAA track and field world. By the time the 2023 Pepsi Florida Relays ended, it was clear that a New Order, one in which STEM majors throw far, had emerged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hammer specialist Stephanie Ratcliffe<\/a> (neuroscience) started it all off on Friday morning with a round-three PB of 70.15m to take the win<\/a> in her event. That toss\u2013currently the leading mark<\/a> in the NCAA\u2013 was her first beyond 70-meters and a massive improvement over her 2022 marks<\/a>.  Coach Wilson says they \u201cknew she would be chasing those types of numbers this year based on her practice throws. And she hit 66-meters at home in Australia in January, so she\u2019s been climbing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ratcliffe\u2019s teammates Cammy Garabian<\/a> (math) and Cara Salsbury<\/a> (undeclared) finished eighth and eleventh respectively.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Estel Valeanu<\/a> (engineering) then took sixth in a discus comp<\/a> won by Vandy\u2019s Veronica Fraley<\/a>. Wilson expects big things from Valeanu this season. Her 54.74m toss in Gainesville was not far off her PB of 56.07m, which is encouraging since she just finished her senior thesis–a strenuous undertaking that consumed much of her energy this spring. \u201cBig things are on the horizon for her,\u201d according to Wilson.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Not to be outdone by Ratcliffe, hammer thrower Kenneth Ikej<\/a>i (undeclared) breached the 70-meter barrier for the first time as well (72.48m) while finishing second to Miami\u2019s Decio Andrade<\/a>. Wilson admits to casting aspersions after Kenneth\u2019s fourth-round toss of 69.99m, telling him, \u201cYou can\u2019t let Stephanie get to 70 and you not!\u201d That well-intentioned taunting, along with the many hours Kenneth spent this past year learning to be \u201cpatient on his entry\u201d produced a nice PB which has him sitting fifth on this year\u2019s NCAA list<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saturday was shot put day in Gainesville, and Sarah Omoregie<\/a> (applied mathematics) proved that it does indeed only take one. Her series:  foul, 15.49m, 17.21m, foul, 15.64m, 16.10m. According to Wilson, Omoregie\u2013a glider and former heptathlete\u2013is \u201cextremely athletic and wired with fast twitch muscles,\u201d but has to \u201cbe patient in the middle and delay the shot” in order to make her best throws. She did that once on Saturday, and the result was a PB, with, Wilson says, more to come for \u201cone of the best athletes I\u2019ve ever trained.\u201d That 17.21m captured second place<\/a> for Omoregie behind freshman sensation Alida Van Daalen<\/a> of Florida who reached 17.94m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alexander Kolesnikoff<\/a> (economics) closed out the  weekend for the Harvard heavers by blasting a PB 20.05m on his sixth and final attempt to win the men\u2019s shot<\/a>, an achievement that \u201cstunned him,\u201d according to Wilson.  \u201cHe has been dreaming about this twenty-meter day for years, and the way it played out is exactly what we\u2019ve been working on\u2013open well and then continue to build.\u201d  His series: 19.66m, 19.11m, 19.64m, 19.79m, foul, 20.05m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wilson loved the way her guy responded after South Carolina\u2019s Dylan Taggart<\/a> hit 19.80m in round six to knock Kolesnikoff temporarily out of the top spot. \u201cHe\u2019s been working on how to compete,\u201d she explained. \u201cAlexander has been in some international comps, but not a lot of high-level NCAA meets, so this was a great experience for him. After Dylan hit that throw, I looked at Alexander and said, \u2018Here is your opportunity. Use this!\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wilson predicts that Kolesnikoff will have plenty more clashes against world class competitors. \u201cAlexander is only the third Ivy Leaguer in history to throw over twenty meters,” she noted. “The other two are Augie Wolf and Stephen Mozia, who both made the Olympics. I can for sure picture Alex following in those footsteps.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What makes Kolesnikoff such a good putter? \u201cHe is,” according to Wilson, “a huge human being and an extremely hard worker.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a>
From left to right: Coach Darcy Wilson, Estel Valeanu, Cara Salsberry, Kenneth Ikeji, Alexander Kolesnikoff, Stephanie Ratcliffe, Sarah Omoregie, Cammy Garabian. Photo courtesy of Coach Wilson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Smaller in number are we, but larger in mind<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the College Board<\/a> website, Harvard accepts only four percent of applicants. Those who gain admittance tend to have an ACT score in the 34-36 range, and a GPA of at least 3.75 on a 4-point scale. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s a small slice of the population from which to recruit folks with elite athletic potential. I asked Wilson how she does it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy pitch is that we are the best school in the country, so you can be number one academically and we can also take you as far as you want to go athletically. You don\u2019t have to compromise in either area.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One helpful factor is Harvard\u2019s financial aid policy, which is the same for American  and international students. Harvard evaluates a family\u2019s financial situation and meets one hundred percent of their \u201cdemonstrated financial need<\/a>.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This makes Harvard more affordable and attracts younglings from across the globe who are blessed with brains that twitch as fast as their muscles. Kolesnikoff and Ratcliffe, for example, are Australian. Valeanu is from Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wilson says she \u201cworks a lot of American and international connections.\u201d She had her eye on Ikeji, for example, and followed him via social media as he developed into Great Britain’s best young hammer thrower. \u201cI loved his potential,\u201d she recalls. \u201cHe was a city kid who had to get on a bus for an hour to go practice, so I knew he was committed to the sport. He also happens to be a brilliant human being.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once on campus, Harvard athletes face the daunting task of competing at a high level without cutting corners in the classroom. \u201cThe Ivy League has a stricter policy on travel and missed classes,\u201d Wilson says. \u201cSo it takes a lot of planning and deciding which meets each athlete should attend. Luckily, the whole school is very supportive of these kids.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the group Wilson took to the Florida Relays, several will be competing for other schools next season. Valeanu will be an LSU Tiger in 2024, Kolesnikoff a Georgia Bulldog. Ratcliffe, Garabian, and Omoregie are currently in the transfer portal looking for the right fit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This exodus is the result of a strange combination of circumstances. The Ivy League does not allow grad students to compete in athletics, and the five athletes mentioned above will all be grad students next year. The reason they still have athletic eligibility is because the NCAA gave everyone an extra year after the 2020 season was shut down. In fact, Kolesnikoff, Omoregie, and Valeanu have two<\/em> years of eligibility remaining because the Ivy League did not allow athletes to compete in 2021 either. Ratcliffe actually has three<\/em> years because she took a leave from the Harvard team and competed in Australia during 2022. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Saying goodbye to this crew will not be easy for Wilson, but she has done her best to help Kolesnikoff and the others find their ideal landing spot. In the meantime, she looks forward to what promises to be an epic season for Harvard throws. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Don\u2019t underestimate the Force A long time ago\u2026last weekend, actually\u2026in a galaxy far, far away\u2026well, Florida\u2026Coach Darcy Wilson’s intrepid group of Harvard throwers sent a tremor through the NCAA track and field world. By the time the 2023 Pepsi Florida Relays ended, it was clear that a New Order, one in which STEM majors throw … Continue reading The Force Awakens: Harvard Throwers Shine at the 2023 Florida Relays<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5,4,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-interviews","category-meets","category-ncaa"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8knIb-VD","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mcthrows.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mcthrows.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mcthrows.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mcthrows.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mcthrows.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3573"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mcthrows.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3573\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mcthrows.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mcthrows.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mcthrows.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}