Although it still feels like winter in New Haven, the men’s and women’s track and field teams started the outdoor season in South Carolina at the Shamrock Invitational. After three long days of competition, the Bulldogs walked away with multiple top-10 finishes and several personal records.

The events were hosted by Coastal Carolina in Myrtle Beach and began on Thursday, March 20. The first Yale top-10 finish came from Anna Demaree ‘15, who took fifth place in the 10000-meter run.

Meredith Rizzo ’17 started day two for the Elis with a fifth-place finish in the women’s 3000-meter steeplechase, a new event for outdoor track this year. Karleh Wilson ’16 took 10th in the women’s hammer throw finals, throwing a distance of 44.61 meters. In the women’s high jump finals, Megan Toon ’16 took 11th overall with a height of 1.55 meters. The women continued their successful day with fifth and 13th place finishes in the pole vault by Emily Urciuoli ’14 and Renee Vogel ‘16, respectively.

At the start of day three, the women started things off with a fifth-place finish by Sarah Barry ’14 in the one-mile run. Barry finished less than a second behind the fourth-place finisher from Mansfield University. In the men’s 800-meter run, James Randon ’17 and Alexander McDonald ‘16 took third and sixth, respectively. Randon’s third-place finish was the best placement for an Eli up to that point. In the men’s 400-meter hurdle final, William Rowe ’15 took 12th. Later that day, Emily Cable ’15 took seventh in the 200-meter dash, the best placement for any Yale sprinter on the day. The big finish for the day came from Ryan Laemel ’14, who took second in the 3000-meter run, finishing almost 10 seconds ahead of the third-place Army runner.

“I believed I could set high goals for this race and achieve them. While I was happy with my time and second-place finish, there’s always room for improvement,” Laemel said.

Brendan Sullivan ’16 rounded out the competition for the men with a fourth-place tie with three other competitors in the pole vault finals.

Sullivan said Myrtle Beach really tested the team, as it was the Elis’ first outdoor meet of the season. He added that training was difficult because of weather conditions, but the Bulldogs still managed to perform well.

The real surprise for the women’s team came from Wilson. She took second in the women’s discus finals, setting a personal best and nearly breaking a Yale record at 46.49 meters.

“I was never really good at discus in high school and only had one good throw at Heps last year, so I had no real expectations going into this meet,” Wilson said. “I would have been happy with any throw.”

Her distance of 46.49 meters set the record for the second-farthest throw by a woman in Yale history.

The Elis have the upcoming weekend off before heading to Princeton for the Sam Howell Invitational April 4.